We know that fundraising and the charity sector in general is insufficiently representative of the people they serve¹, and are committed to enabling recruitment processes that are as inclusive as possible.
We write adverts, job descriptions and person specifications that focus on the objective skills and experience required by our clients. We discuss, in detail, the objective essentials of the jobs we advertise, ensuring that no copy or verbal brief is potentially discriminatory.
We target candidates irrespective of gender, age, ethnic or national origin, religion, sexual orientation or disability and are clear that applications from anyone who meets objective criteria are welcome.
All stages of our recruitment process are designed to proactively target eligible applicants from all sections of the community, encourage applications from suitable individuals and ensure that candidate selection is based on the skills, ability and experience of the applicant to perform the job. This is measured against objective criteria and competencies that are made available to all applicants.
Our website and public profile make clear that:
“QuarterFive and our clients know the charity sector could better reflect the diverse backgrounds and experiences of the people it supports. We encourage individuals with relevant skills and experience to apply for roles regardless of age, disability, gender, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief. If you think you meet some of the criteria for a position and would like to discuss how your other experience might transfer, please ask us for a chat. We’re here to support you. Appointments will be made on merit alone and we will gladly make reasonable adjustments to always ensure a fair process.”
We are able to flex our processes around our clients’ diversity and inclusion policies. This can include:
- Monitoring and reporting on applicant diversity metrics
- Anonymising CVs, deleting education dates and removing additional detail related to protected characteristics
- Using standardised application forms rather than CVs
- Utilising a set of competency questions tailored to a role, replacing CV / application forms entirely
- Anonymised screening that removes any and all identifying characteristics
With all our work, we encourage our clients to recruit as widely as possible and to encourage applications from candidates with transferable skills as well as people with direct fundraising experience.
We are keen and able to proactively engage under-represented groups, and have an in-house researcher part of whose job is to build and grow diverse networks of potential candidates.
Please get in touch for a discussion of how QuarterFive can try to support you with your Equality, Diversity and Inclusion goals.
¹Characteristics of fundraisers
– A profession that is less diverse than the general workforce of the voluntary sector with fewer people from ethnic minorities and fewer people with disabilities working as fundraisers.
– Fundraisers tended to be younger than the average of people working in the voluntary sector, and we found a higher proportion of women working as fundraisers than men. Of the 1,492 fundraisers who completed the diversity survey 74% were female compared to 22% male.
– 5% of fundraisers identified themselves as disabled.
– 87% of fundraisers identified themselves as white, 2% black, 3% Asian, 2% mixed ethnicity, and 5% no particular ethnicity.
– The average age of the fundraisers who undertook this survey was 40.1 years old. Seniority, entry in fundraising, and career progression
– Men are more likely than women to be working at senior levels in fundraising. Almost a fifth (19%) of males were working as Director/CEOs compared to just under a tenth (9%) of women.
– 40% of white respondents volunteered or worked in an unpaid fundraising role early in their careers, compared to 47% mixed ethnicity, 48% of black respondents, and 53% of Asian respondents.
– 56% of white respondents said they found it easy to get their first job in fundraising, a higher percentage than any other ethnic group.
– There is a propensity for fundraisers from ethnic minority backgrounds to be fundraising for causes/organisations that work with people of a particular ethnic, racial or religious origin.
– Fundraisers who consider themselves to have a disability are more likely to work for a charity with a disabled beneficiary group than any other charitable area. Fundraisers views about diversity
– 71% of respondents think that there are significant benefits to their organisation in employing a diverse workforce.
– Fundraisers from white backgrounds are more likely to think that their organisation employs a diverse fundraising workforce than fundraisers from ethnic minorities.
– Every ethnic group in our survey thinks that their fundraising teams are less diverse than the workforce of their whole organisation.
