Casper Harratt, director of marketing at Blackbaud Europe, shares some of the findings from the company’s report on fundraising.
Diversity and equality issues are increasingly in the spotlight within the non-profit sector – and with good reason. Our latest report, written together with the Institute of Fundraising, found that only 21% of fundraisers believe that the sector is taking appropriate steps to address issues of diversity, equality and inclusion. Tellingly, the report also found that only 8% of fundraisers are from an ethnic minority group.
This year’s was the second annual Status of UK Fundraising Benchmark Report, and we wanted to ask questions that would get to the heart of how the sector felt about progress in diversity. Over 1000 people from non-profit organisations across the sector took part:
- 11% of respondents told us the sector as a whole is not doing enough to address issues of diversity
- But 50% believe their own organisation is taking appropriate steps
- 43% said the sector is taking some steps
Within the findings, there does appear to be evidence of a glass ceiling within the sector – 85% of entry-level positions are held by women, but they only hold 61% of director roles. This is particularly interesting in comparison to the experience of men in the sector – we found that 26% of entry roles belong to men, and 36% of director roles. It appears that while the majority of those working in the sector are female, they tend to hold more junior roles, with fewer men overall but taking up a higher proportion the senior jobs comparatively. This is clearly an area that we in the charity sector need to work on.
The report did give us some insight into the behaviour of successful non-profits. Organisations that reported an increase in fundraising income told us that they put their accomplishments down to three points – innovation, resource and investment:
- 63% said their income increase was planned based on new and different activity
- 60% said they could grow their income because they had enough people with the right skills in place
- 52% said they could grow their income because they had the right level of investment in activity
While there are obvious areas for the sector to improve, the report highlighted a positive and optimistic view of the industry – giving much for everyone to learn from. A huge majority of 84% of fundraisers said they enjoy their job, and 66% told us they feel positive about the future of the sector – we are so proud to be a part of this sector and look forward to producing next year’s report!
To read the full report, visit: https://hub.blackbaud.co.uk/npinsights/the-status-of-uk-fundraising-2019-report
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