Higher education fundraising workforce must at least double, if not triple, by 2022 to unlock fundraising potential
1 May 2014 10:46 AM
A new report and toolkit set out practical steps
to enable this to happen
‘An emerging profession: The higher education philanthropy
workforce’ is the first report to take a detailed look at the
fundraising workforce in UK universities and colleges. The ‘Review of philanthropy in UK higher
education’ in 2012 (the ‘Pearce report’) set an
ambitious goal: that by 2022, universities and colleges would be raising
£2 billion per year in gifts from 640,000 donors. The workforce –
currently numbering around 1,800, with demand outstripping supply – will
need to double, if not triple, if universities are to reach this potential. The
new report makes recommendations on how to attract, retain and develop the
extra staff needed to achieve that target, and supplies a toolkit for
accomplishing this.
Professor Dame Shirley Pearce, the Review Group chair,
said:
‘I hope that higher education fundraising becomes
one of the careers of choice for our very best graduates. Our work has proved
that investment in fundraising brings results whatever the size or type of
university or college. If this success is to continue we must have a strong and
growing group of educational fundraisers who are skilled in leading development
teams and working with academics and institutional
leaders.’
A
clearer career path, the use of straightforward language to describe
fundraising roles, and greater openness to candidates from a wide range of
backgrounds, are among the report’s recommendations.
‘An emerging profession’ examines the
qualities of a good fundraiser and outlines the skills, competencies and
knowledge base needed in successful fundraising teams. The toolkit published
with the report provides practical advice about what to look for, and how to
recruit and retain top people.
The
report, produced by specialist fundraising consultants More Partnership and
recruitment specialists Richmond Associates, is the result of a consultation
with 750 people across the sector. This included an online survey that was
completed by a quarter of the fundraising workforce in higher
education.
Madeleine Atkins, HEFCE Chief Executive,
said:
‘Fundraising is now core to the plans of ambitious
universities and colleges. This report is an important step along the path for
this emerging profession, and I urge all those affected to take its
recommendations seriously.’
Notes
- HEFCE set up the review of the philanthropic workforce
in July 2013, in response to ‘Review of philanthropy in UK higher education:
2012 status report and challenges for the next decade’ (the
‘Pearce report’).
The new report, ‘An emerging profession’, aims to address the challenge
of how to grow and develop the fundraising workforce in higher education. The
review was chaired by Professor Dame Shirley Pearce, former Vice‑Chancellor of
Loughborough University. The other review group members were:
- Rory Brooks, Founder, Rory and Elizabeth Brooks
Foundation
- Nicola Dandridge, Chief Executive, Universities
UK
- Kate Hunter, Executive Director, Council for Advancement
and Support of Education (CASE) Europe
- Shaun Horan, Managing Director,
Graham-Pelton
- Joanna Motion, Partner, More
Partnership
- Edith Prak, Director of Development, Open
University
- Professor Sir Rick Trainor, Principal, King’s
College London.
- Fundraising consultancy More Partnership, in partnership
with Richmond Associates, was commissioned by HEFCE to produce the report
‘An emerging profession’ following a review of data and relevant
literature, interviews with institutions and donors, and an open consultation
with those working in higher education fundraising.
- The
2012 ‘Review of philanthropy in UK higher education’ showed what
success there had been in growing philanthropic support to universities in the
previous 10 years. The report concluded that if the current rate of
acceleration in philanthropic income were to continue, UK universities would
attract gifts worth £2 billion a year from some 640,000 donors by
2022.
- Some 1,842 staff are involved in alumni relations and
development in UK higher education, with approximately two-thirds in
fundraising and one-third in alumni relations, according to the latest
published Ross- CASE survey (2013). This is a small proportion of the total
fundraising workforce in charities in the UK. While there is no record of the
overall number of fundraisers in the UK, the Institute of Fundraising reported
that it provided online support to 18,293 fundraisers and engaged a further
6,000 in face-to-face training in 2012-13. The Institute’s membership was
5,469 in 2012-13, an increase of 6 per cent on the previous
year.