Back in March this year, I wrote a blog about the business case for apprenticeships and suggested some possible reasons why the sector has – to my mind at least – been slow to adopt the level 3 Fundraiser Apprenticeship which I teach.
I got in touch with some of the people in my LinkedIn network and asked them for their thoughts and got some great responses which I wanted to share more widely (with the contributor’s permission).
Adriana Brancaleone Fundraising Consultant
“There are two perspectives which I would add to the article and the comments already made:
I’ve been in the sector for 20 years, and I notice that most actions and thinking are at an individual level. How about a more joined-up collective approach to ensure that individual HR Managers and charity leaders see the value of apprenticeships? Has the NCVO, CIOF or similar organisations actively promoted apprenticeships to their members yet? I remember you writing a post about the societal value of fundraising apprenticeships a couple of years ago, but maybe it could be time to call once again for more collective promotion?
My second thought is that Fundraising Managers’ appetite for innovation will continue to be limited by the inevitable short-termism of having to meet fundraising targets which are constantly more difficult to meet. While they are in “crisis” mode, it could be worth targeting a different audience. How about raising the profile of fundraising apprenticeships amongst young people? Teenagers and those in their early 20s amaze me for how smart and proactive often are, so trying to reach them where they are, in Sixth-forms, jobs fair, volunteer fairs etc. may help them think that volunteering for a charity is not the only way to eventually land their first job in the Third sector. Despite my degree, I believe the majority of entry level fundraising jobs can be done without going to Uni. With university fees so high, perhaps it may be worth doing another post/blog to test out this idea amongst your wider LinkedIn network?”
Sheelagh Taylor Director of Fundraising and Retail at St Benedict’s Hospice
“We are a very small team but took the decision last year to commit to investing time and the small cost in enrolling our current community fundraiser onto an apprenticeship.
The employee had joined us with no real fundraising experience and the course has provided the building bricks for them to get a clear, structured learning journey whilst supporting them in their everyday role.
We have come a long way since my first step onto the career ladder at 16 years old though the then YTS schemes!”
Emanuela de Mattia – Director of fundraising at Solidarity with South Sudan
“I believe that apprenticeships within organisations, and more specifically in the fundraising area, should be an integral part of the organisation’s structural strategic planning.
There are several reasons supporting this. For example, constantly engaging with new best practices and with activities that have been tested by others (even though fundraising is not a fixed model that works the same way for everyone) would support strategic analysis during the planning phase.
That said, there are some barriers that, unfortunately, are difficult to overcome. For instance, fundraising activities are often seen as a support function rather than an area worthy of professional investment (it is often assumed that anyone can do fundraising without any specific skills – which is absolutely not true).
Perhaps it could be helpful to start by promoting concrete examples of organisations that have decided to integrate apprenticeships into their staff development plans?”
Anon – Senior Manager, Fundraising Recruitment provider
“I totally agree that apprenticeships could add a lot of value to an organisation and with a smaller talent pool for more junior roles, this would provide another route into the sector. I hadn’t realised that organisations could get so much funding for apprenticeships, really hope this catches on with the larger charities leading the way!”
I’m really grateful for colleagues’ thoughts on this. I’m happy to say that the Chartered Institute of Fundraising has been a good partner on publicising apprenticeships and scheduled a really interesting panel session at this year’s convention at which different entry points to the profession were shared and discussed. I’m sure there is more that sector bodies can do to raise awareness of this valuable opportunity and to ensure that the pipeline of talent into fundraising is strong and diverse.
What would you add as ways to drive further apprenticeship take up?
#Apprenticeship #EarnWhileYouLearn #Fundraising #TalentPipeline
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