Overview of the role

Raise funds for charitable causes.

Details of standard

Occupation summary

This occupation is found in the third sector in charities and not-for-profit organisations of all sizes. The role is usually based within a fundraising team internal to a charitable or not-for-profit organisation but on occasions can be with a specific agency that provides fundraising consultation and services.

The broad purpose of the occupation is to raise funds for charitable causes. Funds are raised from a range of sources including but not limited to trusts and foundations, digital media, major donors, corporate partners, raffles and lotteries, payroll giving, events, community engagement, individual giving, gift aid and legacies. A fundraiser will typically work within or have a focus on one or more of these areas. In addition, a fundraiser is also responsible for raising awareness and non-financial support for their charitable cause. As part of a fundraising team a fundraiser will contribute to the implementation and execution of the fundraising strategy. projects and plans. They will be responsible for delivering day-to-day fundraising activities that provide the essential income and engagement with supporters for the delivery of the charitable purpose of the organisation. They will also carry out research for opportunities and analyse and provide data to support any proposals for developing fundraising activities. The role is a common entry point for many looking for a career within fundraising and, potential progression into more senior fundraising roles.

In their daily work, an employee in this occupation interacts with a range of internal teams such as (but are not limited to) marketing, media, finance, service delivery, volunteering, advocacy, I.T and procurement. Externally, a fundraiser would interact, either autonomously or as part of a team, with clients, donors, supporters and prospective supporters of their charitable cause (e.g. corporate partners, high net worth individuals and the general public), as well as other stakeholders including suppliers, other charities, the media and professional bodies.  The role is likely to be home or office-based, although they may spend time away from their base attending and supporting events, meetings with internal or external stakeholders, carrying out specific fundraising activities or carrying out research.

An employee in this occupation will be responsible for reporting to a fundraising manager they will undertake the required tasks for the fundraiser. These tasks may require planning and prioritising personal and team activities to meet organisation needs. Due to the nature and level of responsibility it is not anticipated that the role would have any budgetary responsibilities. 

They will be responsible for:

  • Building and maintaining relationships to acquire new supporters and retain existing ones
  • Securing funds and raising awareness of their charitable cause in line with agreed targets and KPIs
  • Managing a portfolio of external stakeholders including supporters, volunteers, corporate partners and eventers
  • Contributing towards the management of suppliers
  • Maintaining a database of supporters
  • Conducting research in order to gain valuable insight
  • Developing and delivering fundraising plans as directed
  • Putting together creative content to build a case for support
  • Contributing towards the development of fundraising plans and evaluating their effectiveness
  • Promoting fundraising propositions and using innovation to develop new ones
  • Compliance with Fundraising and Data Protection regulations
  • Addressing and solving problems within their role
  • Sales activities identified in fundraising plans

Typical job titles include:

Corporate partnerships fundraiser Events/community fundraiser Fundraising/development/income generation executive Fundraising/development/income generation officer Individual giving fundraiser Legacy fundraiser Major donor/major gift/philanthropy fundraiser Relationship manager

Occupation duties

Duty KSBs

Duty 1 Identify, build and maintain relationships to raise financial (such as funds) and non-financial support (such as raising awareness) of the charitable cause

K3 K6 K7 K9 K10 K11 K13 K14 K15 K16

S1 S3 S4 S6 S8 S10 S11 S12 S13 S14 S15

B1 B2 B4 B5

Duty 2 Develop proposals and recommendations for inclusion in the development and execution of fundraising plans, such as plans to identify and acquire new supporters or plans to maintain and develop a portfolio of existing supporters

K1 K2 K3 K4 K8 K9 K10 K12 K13 K14 K15 K16

S2 S3 S6 S7 S15

B2 B3 B5

Duty 3 Recommend and autonomously carry out fundraising activities to achieve financial and non-financial targets and KPIs whilst keeping within agreed expenditure budgets where applicable

K2 K5 K8 K15 K16

S5 S7 S11 S12 S13 S14 S15

B2 B5

Duty 4 Undertake external market research and analysis of fundraising activity to continuously improve performance and support innovation across the team, making recommendations where necessary

K1 K4 K12

S2 S3 S4 S9 S12

B3 B4

Duty 5 Use a variety of different mediums to create material for an effective 'Case for Support' to acquire new supporters and/or retain existing ones

K6 K9 K10 K13 K14

S1 S8 S11 S13

B2

Duty 6 Monitor, evaluate and report on fundraising activities using a range of metrics to identify and make recommendations for areas of development and opportunity

K1 K2 K3 K4 K5 K11 K12 K15 K16

S3 S5 S6 S9 S15

B3 B5

Duty 7 Support the ongoing care and stewardship of supporters through recommending and implementing activities and initiatives that meet both the needs of the supporter and the organisation

K1 K2 K3 K6 K7 K9 K10 K11 K12 K13 K14 K15 K16

S1 S2 S3 S4 S6 S7 S8 S10 S11 S12 S13 S14 S15

B1 B2 B3 B4 B5

Duty 8 Produce high quality written and verbal communication material to engage internal and external stakeholders to maximise any opportunities, situations and issues that will impact on the charitable work, such as (but not limited to) approaches to and from prospective donors and partners, applications for funding from trusts or statutory bodies, planning for fundraising events and the development of fundraising campaigns

K1 K2 K3 K6 K7 K9 K10 K12 K13 K14 K15 K16

S1 S2 S6 S10 S11 S12 S13 S14 S15

B3 B4 B5

Duty 9 Undertake, both autonomously and with others, data analysis and research of existing and prospective supporters in order to understand behaviour and motivation, to enable them to appropriately support the charitable aims of the organisation

K1 K2 K3 K4 K6 K7 K9 K13 K14 K16

S2 S3 S4 S7 S9 S10

B2 B3 B4 B5

Duty 10 Carry out the accurate update and maintenance of IT and records systems to ensure data is compliant and appropriately used to inform fundraising activities

K1 K2 K3 K4 K5 K9 K10 K11 K12 K15

S1 S2 S3 S4 S6 S7 S9 S15

B2 B3 B4 B5

Duty 11 Provide a high quality first point of contact with donors to identify and address complaints or problems and seek early resolution or escalation where required

K3 K9 K10 K11 K12 K14 K15 K16

S1 S4 S8 S10 S12 S13 S14 S15

B1 B3 B4


KSBs

Knowledge

K1: Commercial understanding of the third sector and fundraising environment, such as external and market factors that impact fundraising performance and the role of competitors and collaborators Back to Duty

K2: The different types of fundraising methods and how they are used, such as Community, Events, Philanthropy, Major Gifts, Individual Giving, Legacy, Monthly Giving, Foundations, Corporate Fundraising, Gift Aid Back to Duty

K3: Regulation, legislation and codes of practice relating to the fundraising environment, such as fundraising regulations, data protection compliance and ethical codes of practice, Back to Duty

K4: Methodologies to undertake internal and external analysis and evaluation of fundraising products and services, such as cost benefit analysis, statistical evaluation, principles of surveys, stakeholder analysis, STEEPLE, SWOT and ERIC frameworks Back to Duty

K5: The elementary Financial principles, such as income streams, cash flow, taxation, budgeting, forecasting, cost control and applying best procurement practice Back to Duty

K6: : The key components of a 'Case for Support', such as organisational aims, creative content to showcase the cause to supporters, impact of the work of the organisation, strategic aims, stakeholders and how these meet the needs of a supporter Back to Duty

K7: The key components of a supporter journey, such as reward and recognition, maximising supporter commitment, appropriate communication, understanding donor motivation and tailoring supporter journey accordingly Back to Duty

K8: The key components of a Fundraising Plan, such as recording fundraising activities over a period of time, including campaign dates, area marketing and acquisition strategies, impact analysis, evaluation and budgeting Back to Duty

K9: Organisational understanding, such as purpose, mission statement, organisational strategy, values, company policies, brand guidelines, volunteering policies, complaints policy, health & safety policy, cash handling, lone working policy Back to Duty

K10: Different methods of communication to internal and external stakeholders, such as verbal, non-verbal, building rapport, designing fundraising and marketing materials, digital, mailings and newsletters Back to Duty

K11: Importance of accurately recording supporter information on a supporter relationship management system, to help inform fundraising activities and ensure data is compliant Back to Duty

K12: The internal and external dependencies that influence the success of fundraising, such as legal, health & safety, finance, operations, volunteers and suppliers Back to Duty

K13: How to approach and engage new and existing supporters to ask for both financial and non-financial support Back to Duty

K14: The different forms of donor motivation and how they influence the method of fundraising employed, the impact that has on the donor and their continued engagement with the cause Back to Duty

K15: How to approach, analyse and address problems Back to Duty

K16: Regulation, legislation, codes of practice and policies relating to inclusion, safeguarding and whistle-blowing Back to Duty

Skills

S1: Uses the most appropriate communication method for the message through the use of good questions and listening techniques Back to Duty

S2: Identify and apply pragmatic solutions using a range of methods to maximise value to the organisation Back to Duty

S3: Use data management (compliant with data protection regulation) and analysis to produce and present evidence to support, validate and/or review fundraising activity to different stakeholders, such as analysing the effectiveness of a fundraising event Back to Duty

S4: Evaluate and make unsupervised decisions quickly based on the current situation or environment Back to Duty

S5: Control, monitor and analyse expenditure and/or financial fundraising transactions to maximise spend on the organisation's charitable cause, including Gift Aid Back to Duty

S6: Use a variety of information sources (compliant with data protection regulation) to identify individuals, groups or organisations who can potentially provide effective support for the organisation Back to Duty

S7: Plan and prioritise time to ensure fundraising activities are managed well and fundraising potential is maximised Back to Duty

S8: Build relationships and identify, engage, sustain and satisfy the on-going needs of supporters and stakeholders by building rapport and trust, and resolve conflicts constructively Back to Duty

S9: Identify and apply appropriate technological solutions to improve the effectiveness of processes, procedures and development of fundraising activity Back to Duty

S10: Demonstrates self-awareness and recognises their own emotions and their impact on self and others. Back to Duty

S11: Adapt and tailor presentation style and technique to meet the needs of the audience Back to Duty

S12: Build a diverse network both internally and externally Back to Duty

S13: Articulate and communicate the mission, goals and activities of your organisation to influence others to engage with your cause, applying appropriate fundraising techniques such as networking, handling objections, negotiating and making an ask Back to Duty

S14: Adapt working style depending on the situation or needs of the other person Back to Duty

S15: Identify, evaluate and apply solutions to problems as they arise Back to Duty

Behaviours

B1: Resilient and maintains a positive attitude Back to Duty

B2: Acts to put the organisation’s cause, and the needs of stakeholders at the centre of their fundraising activity Back to Duty

B3: Sources effective solutions, and seeks to continuously improve and develop Back to Duty

B4: Reliable and acts with integrity, empathy, honesty and trustworthiness Back to Duty

B5: Works collaboratively to deliver fundraising activities Back to Duty


Qualifications

English and Maths

Apprentices without level 2 English and maths will need to achieve this level prior to taking the End-Point Assessment. For those with an education, health and care plan or a legacy statement, the apprenticeship’s English and maths minimum requirement is Entry Level 3. A British Sign Language (BSL) qualification is an alternative to the English qualification for those whose primary language is BSL.


Additional details

Occupational Level:

3

Duration (months):

18

Review

this apprenticeship will be reviewed in accordance with our change request policy.

Status: Approved for delivery
Level: 3
Reference: ST0887
Version: 1.0
Date updated: 31/05/2022
Approved for delivery: 10 July 2020
Route: Sales, marketing and procurement
Typical duration to gateway: 18 months (this does not include EPA period)
Maximum funding: £8000
LARS Code: 582
EQA Provider: Ofqual
Employers involved in creating the standard: Macmillan Cancer Support, Alzheimer Research UK, Teenage Cancer Trust, Marie Curie, Children Society, WWF, Mencap, BHF, Action for Children, NSPCC, Cancer Research UK, Shelter

Version log

Version Change detail Earliest start date Latest start date
1.0 Approved for delivery 10/07/2020 Not set

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