# Fewer sector job ads now require degrees, research suggests

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2022/11/04/fewer-sector-job-ads-now-require-degrees-research-suggests/
- Published: 2022-11-04T11:23:18+00:00
- Author: Melanie May

**The number of fundraising job ads mentioning the need for a degree is dropping,
research by #NonGraduatesWelcome suggests.**

Its figures show that in 2019, 34% of fundraising job ads on the free jobs board
of Facebook group Fundraising Chat required a degree. Three years later, it found
that this has fallen to 17% (26 out of 157).

Singling out the month of October in both years, [#NonGraduatesWelcome](http://nongraduateswelcome.co.uk/)
found that in October 2019 over a quarter of jobs (27%) listed a degree as essential,
dropping to 8% (12 jobs out of 157) this October.

## Advertisement

#NonGraduatesWelcome campaigns for charities to end the practice of making degree-
level education a requirement for jobs. It believes this requirement is contributing
to the lack of diversity in the sector, as well as making it harder for charities
to find talented people for their teams.

On its site, it says:

> “There are many reasons – through choice or through circumstance – why some talented
> people don’t go to university. But that doesn’t mean they don’t have the potential
> to be incredible fundraisers.”

By regularly calling out organisations that specify a degree as a job requirement,#
NonGraduatesWelcome has prompted many removals since it launched in 2019, although
it remains a requirement in a lot of ads. Job boards are also getting on board however,
with Fundraising Chat, CharityComms, FundraisingJobs all recently announcing that
they will no longer be accepting job ads with unnecessary requirements.

> Fantastic to see so much impact across the sector from the work of [@NonGradsWelcome](https://twitter.com/NonGradsWelcome?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> 💪 
> Pleased to be tightening up the criteria on the Fundraising Chat jobs thread
> too – person specs with degrees as either essential or desirable are no longer
> allowed, times are a changing! [https://t.co/ErVOTHUHnv](https://t.co/ErVOTHUHnv)
> — Jo McGuinness (she/her) (@JoFundraising) [November 1, 2022](https://twitter.com/JoFundraising/status/1587485691419795460?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

> Happy to report that as part of our active commitment to equity around recruitment
> and making [#NonGraduatesWelcome](https://twitter.com/hashtag/NonGraduatesWelcome?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> within the sector, we're asking that any submissions to our jobs board from today
> do not include unnecessary qualifications.
> Find out more 👇[https://t.co/Op1xjUo2ay](https://t.co/Op1xjUo2ay)
> — CharityComms (@CharityComms) [October 25, 2022](https://twitter.com/CharityComms/status/1584898059724812289?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

> It's an exciting day here at Fundraising Jobs – we are literally ticking a box
> on our journey towards ethical recruitment in the charity sector. 
> Charities must
> agree to [#ShowTheSalary](https://twitter.com/hashtag/ShowTheSalary?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> and make [#NonGraduatesWelcome](https://twitter.com/hashtag/NonGraduatesWelcome?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw),
> ads that don't will be asked to amend or it will be removed. 1/2 [pic.twitter.com/k7VY2AXhu8](https://t.co/k7VY2AXhu8)
> — fundraisingjobs.org.uk (@jobfundraising) [October 21, 2022](https://twitter.com/jobfundraising/status/1583418910610640899?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)