At its heart, fundraising is all about connection. It’s the fundraiser’s ability to understand and empathise with who they’re talking to, to communicate important messages with passion, and to build relationships, that brings in those vital funds causes depend upon. But there’s a problem. Success takes a skilled and representative workforce, yet while our charities’ causes and supporters may be diverse, we’re not always good at supporting that diversity within our own organisations.
That’s not just a problem for performance, it affects all those who don’t feel included, whether they already work in a charity, or would like to. So, we’ve got to get better at recognising people’s talents, where they might need support to thrive – whether that’s to enter the sector in the first place, or to achieve their potential – and providing them with that support.
That’s why the Chartered Institute of Fundraising has set up a talent and inclusion advisory panel, which I’m proud to be chairing. I’m also aware that you might look at me and think there’s not much that’s diverse here, but of course there’s more to diversity than outward appearances. Dyslexia (undiagnosed at the time) means I don’t have a degree because not being able to do the exams led me to drop out. My family background means I had to make my way without the bank of mum and dad, and my dyslexia combined with ADHD and the lack of meaningful workplace support also means I’ve struggled in some of my roles. But I did get very good at masking it.
Unfortunately, this is something too many people have to do. Whether that’s related to neurodiversity, mental ill health, or menopause symptoms. And too many people face prejudice and exclusion for reasons like these and others like visible differences, race, age or background. Education and experience levels can also be barriers. At the same time, we also know that fundraising roles are going unfilled, and that the people in those teams inevitably end up taking more on, impacting their own health and wellbeing.
There are already some great initiatives working to improve representation, including The Well Placed, which is providing a foot into the sector for older people with transferrable marketing skills. But solving this issue will take work on a much larger scale, and that’s really what this panel is about. To uncover how we can be more inclusive and supportive, so we make it possible for fantastic people to join the sector, and keep and nurture those we’ve already got.
This is about recognising where we’re being exclusive, as a sector, as organisations, and individually – often inadvertently, and then working to change that. This might be ensuring we understand and provide the adjustments people need, from simple meeting time changes to admin support, which is something I need, and physical accessibility. At the same time, it’s about raising the profile of fundraising as a career choice and ensuring there are clear routes in, both for those at the start of their professional life, and for career changers.
Achieving this also requires a mind shift, so that we become more open to what diversity in its widest form can bring to our teams and more actively inclusive.
EDI is already a standing agenda item for the CIOF board and will be a really important part of what this advisory panel focuses on, but our remit also goes further. Attracting, retaining and nurturing fundraisers is a key pillar of the CIOF’s new purpose, which wants to ensure that in five years there are clear and accessible pathways to careers in fundraising, where talent is nurtured and barriers to recruitment are tackled, and in ten – that fundraising is seen as an attractive profession that draws a wider pool of talent who reach more donors and raise more money.
Achieving those outcomes requires understanding the issues in the first place, so we can work out ways of addressing them, and that’s where the talent and inclusion panel will be helping, by providing the critical thinking that feeds into advising the board and executive on this area.
Our initial priority will be to build an understanding of the current situation across the sector: for example, in terms of people leaving it and why, and rates of mental and physical ill health. Once we have that clear picture, we can start to think about how to address those issues.
For this, we need you. The panel has to be representative if we’re to get this right. If you're not sure there's a place for you and your experience on it, then you’re probably exactly who we need to be a part of it. So that our outcomes will be meaningful, and in the future, other people looking at this panel will see themselves in it. The application process is open for just another few days, until Sunday 9 November, so if you’re interested in helping us take this forward and affect the change that I think we all want to see, find out more here, and apply!