Working with Charities

There are 185,000 registered charities in England and Wales, and another 30,000 in Scotland and Northern Ireland. They range in size from the very biggest household names like Oxfam, the National Trust and the Red Cross, through numerous schools and colleges, City livery companies and trade benevolent societies, to small, regional funds perhaps to support a sick child or the victims of a local disaster. They have to be involved with:

- poverty relief

- education

- religion

- health

- social and community advancement

- science, culture, arts and heritage

- amateur sport

- human rights, conflict resolution and reconciliation

- social housing

- animal welfare

- environmental protection and improvement

- other benefit to the community.

The level of corporate donations is staggering, with companies giving £500 million annually in cash and staff services. The UK’s 9,000 charitable trusts give away over £2.5 billion each year, and payroll giving tops £70 million each year.

Annual total charitable income in England and Wales is £30 billion. The top 6 per cent (11,000) of charities in England and Wales share 90 per cent of this money (£27 billion) with the top quarter of 1 per cent (420) sharing 44 per cent (£13 billion). In this financial climate, smaller charities are fighting to retain market share, with very small local ones relying on intimate knowledge of their objectives to encourage donations.

Medium-sized charities are suffering the most at present as the big players deploy hard-nosed marketing techniques and the small fish tap into local goodwill and lottery funding. Indeed, advertising, direct mail, telephone appeals and commercial trading open up new areas of employment as charities become businesses to an extent that would have been unimaginable a few years ago. Political pressure and lobbying at national or local level is undertaken as necessary, and there is sometimes a harder edge to campaigning than was usual in the past.

Senior business figures are recruited by charities keen to operate in a more commercial way, and government seems only too happy to devolve increasing social responsibility on to the sector. Indeed, some authorities are worried about the fact that reductions in welfare infrastructure and increased central funding to charities to enable them to fill the gaps may lead to greater government interference and regulation as to how charities conduct their affairs.

Cynics say that unless a charity is supporting one of the ‘three Cs’ – cancer, children or canines – it will inevitably struggle for funds; particularly given the large number of good causes competing for donations. And extravaganzas like Live Aid, Children in Need and Red Nose Day also have an effect on the nation’s ability or preparedness to support other causes.

It is also important to distinguish between the paid employees of a charity and its volunteers. The former have a contract of employment with the charity and cannot by law be members of its governing council. A few of the latter may be elected or appointed to be on the council, and all will wish to play a part in its business, particularly fundraising. They will often have a view about how its business should be conducted.

Becoming involved in charity management is not easy and often involves out-of-hours work. While it may be personally satisfying to serve a good cause, and be motivated by something other than money, charities can be complex, with differences between people – particularly paid staff and volunteers.

Charities employ over 550,000 people – 2 per cent of the UK’s workforce; 60 per cent of these posts are full-time and two-thirds of them are filled by women.

Charities in the Services

There are literally hundreds of Service-related charities. A number of Service people also become involved in the management of charities as part of their duties – acting as museum trustees, managing funds and running large fundraising occasions. Some Service people also wish to continue working for some higher cause when they leave, and a second career in charity management can help them to achieve it.

Employment in charities

Service charities are largely staffed by ex-Forces people, although some posts that require specific expertise are filled from external sources. Position and appointment tend to be made on the basis of Service rank, but they are a significant source of employment at head office (often London) and regionally.

While very senior officers are still recruited to head up non-Service charities on the basis of their leadership, organisational and administrative skills, many of them now look to recruit people who can bring commercial expertise and experience to bear. The latter may also be looking for a more uplifting objective for their work. Many charities expect their workload to increase as more institutions opt out of the state sector and government funding is reduced. Opportunities for employment generally are reasonable and growing. There are both academic and vocational qualifications available at a variety of levels; some are general while others are specifically written for the voluntary sector.

Skills and attributes that are important in charity employment include:

- interpersonal skills

- oral and written communication

- presentation, talking to groups of people

- persuasion, management and leadership

- self-confidence

- tact and patience

- negotiating

- organisation and administration

- numeracy for accounting and budgets

- drive, enthusiasm and commitment to the cause.

Apart from general and financial management, people thinking of working in a charity might consider:

- fundraising management

- organising volunteers

- case working.

Fundraising managers are responsible for the various ways that charities collect money, and for organising staff and volunteers. In small charities, fundraising managers will probably run all the different revenue-collecting activities; in larger ones they may only be responsible for one or two. Methods of raising funds include:

- direct marketing

- corporate fundraising

- working with high-level donors

- promoting legacies

- regional fundraising

- trading

- special events.

Many fundraising managers are graduates and mature people who have previously worked in relevant areas like marketing, PR or sales. Working in other charities or as a volunteer are also ways to enter the profession. Some large charities have management training schemes consisting of a series of placements in different parts of the organisation. There are courses for beginners, and others for people with some experience.

Volunteer organisers recruit, train and manage unpaid volunteers. They interview, match candidates to vacancies, and organise training and ongoing support. They will probably supervise the volunteers in a geographical area so the work involves administration, budgets, record-keeping, report-writing, applying for grants and organising fundraising. Some posts are part-time, depending on the size and location of the charity. Entrants are often mature people with experience in other fields. Experience as a volunteer, organising people, committee work or fundraising can be an advantage. There are courses and qualifications available in this specialism.

Case workers help individuals and groups to find assistance and relief from their problem. They may be specially trained – like nurses or welfare workers – or be lay people. They are often involved in assessing individuals’ needs and directing them to the appropriate place, which may be their own charity, another charity or state assistance. They will often become involved in counselling, helping with tribunals and paperwork to assist in getting the right result, and they will often need to understand complex laws and regulations. There are no set entry requirements except that some case workers may need to be professionally qualified. Training is often on-the-job, although some large charities run courses.

Salaries

Fundraising managers start at £15,000 to £18,000, experienced managers might get £20,000 to £25,000, with senior ones on £30,000 or more. Volunteer organisers will begin at £10,000 to £12,000, rising to £15,000–£18,000 with experience, and a few will earn £20,000 or more in large organisations. Case workers start at £13,000, increasing to £15,000–£19,000 with experience, and more senior managers on £20,000 or more.

Been there, done that

John McNeil

After 33 years in the RAF and at the age of 55, Squadron Leader John McNeil swapped his navigator seat in airborne early warning aircraft for a new career. He took with him staff skills, including writing, an ability to get on with people and work in a team, self-discipline and an Open University maths-based BA.

He attended a Career Transition Workshop – ‘good, very interesting’ – and read an article in Quest about charities. He then went on a course with ‘Working for a Charity’ (Tel: 020 7833 8220) that provided an ‘insight into working in the voluntary sector and a work placement’.

His subsequent job search led him to the Red Cross, where he spent two years as Senior Fundraiser for Hertfordshire. McNeil ‘took over a going concern of programmes working with volunteers in the community, with a major event being the annual Flag Week in May’. He had 65 local organisers, each with their own team of volunteers.

He has just started a new job as Hertfordshire Community Fundraiser for Macmillan Cancer Relief. He has moved away from fixed events into a role coordinating more fluid activities and managing groups of volunteers: ‘working twice as hard … [as in the RAF] … for much less money’.