Fundraising Academy launches entry-level fundraising training programme
Howard Lake | 2 May 2007 | News
The UK’s first-ever entry-level training programme and qualification for fundraisers is now accepting its first students. According to the Academy’s founders, until the launch of the Foundation in Fundraising Certificate, “fundraising was alone among the professions in not having any kind of entry-level training programme”.
The first 40 students of the Foundation in Fundraising Certificate (FFC) will take 15 modules covering every aspect of fundraising when they begin their studies on 30 May. It will culminate in a summer school in mid-August consisting of practical workshops and career-development training.
The Foundation in Fundraising Certificate – has been devised and set up by Rupert Tappin, Managing Director of professional fundraising organisation Future Fundraising and its sister company Fundraising Recruitment. He wants it to offer a “new route” into fundraising for people who have little or no relevant charity experience.
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“We keep finding that a significant number of charities experience difficulty in recruiting suitably experienced or qualified people to take up fundraising positions at the entry-level,” he explained.
“If fundraising is to become more professionalised, then there has to be a more professional route into the sector. Fundraising is alone among the professions in not have a serious entry-level training programme and qualification.
“Our vision is the creation and continual development of a training programme specifically designed for individuals wishing to enter the fundraising sector. I’ve been working in fundraising for eight years and I’ve never been able to understand why all the training and qualifications are aimed at people who are already doing the job but there is nothing for those who’ve never done it but want to.”
The Fundraising Academy will be aiming to appeal to five groups of people:
* people at the beginning of their work career who want to get a job in the voluntary sector, but who need to work full-time and cannot afford to volunteer
* people wishing to transfer into the sector from the commercial side
* face-to-face and door-to-door fundraisers wishing to step up and work directly for a charity
* people starting out their careers in fundraising who are looking to broaden
their skills base
* Student fundraisers.
Tappin realised some time ago that street fundraisers offered a valuable potential ongoing resource for the fundraising sector. “Many people become street fundraisers because they see this as a first step towards a career in the voluntary sector, but once they are working for an F2F agency, there is nothing to help them make the leap to the charity side,” he said.
Registrations for the course can be made via the Academy’s website but must be received by 22 May 2007.
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About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.