There are a number of different roles that come under the heading of fundraising. Listed below are some of the main areas of work which you are likely to find in a fundraising department.

Corporate - raising money and profile through partnerships with companies. Techniques include staff fundraising activities, sponsorship, cause related marketing to sell products, payroll giving and strategic commercial activities.

Trusts - application-based fundraising to family or company foundations. Ancient Livery Companies (within the Square Mile) are also approached via applications as is the Big Lottery. Their raison d'être is to give money out to worthy causes and each has a wide-ranging or more specific area of interest.

Events – organising money-making special, mass participation, sporting and challenge events.

Community - raising funds at a local level through volunteer fundraising groups, local companies and trusts as well as the organisation of events. Often the Community Fundraiser will be responsible for a geographical area.

Direct Marketing - raising money through individual donors who commit to an occasional or monthly donation. This involves approaching individuals by mail, telephone, face to face (street and door to door fundraising) and more recently through social media.

Major Donors - raising money from individuals who have the potential to give larger donations. This involves approaching high net worth individuals on a one to one basis. There is crossover here with trusts and corporate fundraising ie some individuals will donate via the vehicle of a family or company trust.

Digital Fundraising - one of the newest forms of fundraising reflecting our increased use of technology to communicate. With the development of the internet and social networking sites, charities now see these as legitimate fundraising channels.

General Fundraising - more likely to exist in smaller charities and tends to mean involvement in a range of fundraising activities.

Fundraising Assistant - support role assisting a fundraiser or fundraising team, predominantly administratively orientated but with the potential to take on more proactive fundraising tasks. Often seen as an apprenticeship role allowing the Assistant to gain an all round grounding in fundraising.

Marketing (General) - this role is often included as a part of other jobs (except in larger charities). It includes publication work particularly on projects such as annual reports, developing marketing campaigns and 'brand' awareness.

Press/Public Relations (Communications) - raising awareness of a charity and it's services through media coverage on a local and national level.

Many of these jobs may be combined and will depend on the size of the organisation and its overall objectives. Also within all of these areas there are often different levels of responsibility, from junior and assistant posts to more senior positions and management roles.

The skills required
In today's tight financial climate, it is ever more difficult to move into the sector without significant transferable skills. For example, experience of marketing, account management or business development are very relevant to corporate fundraising posts whereas research and writing skills transfer well to trust fundraising positions.

Recruiters are interested in specific achievements or targets made within your area of work as well as good written and verbal communication skills. Most importantly, you must know how your skills transfer to the posts within fundraising and most recruiters nowadays expect people to have volunteered in the area you are wishing to transfer to. For pro-active fundraising positions, recruiters also want to see evidence of longevity in previous posts.

To find out more about moving into the charity sector select 'New to the charity sector?' from the menu below.

For junior fundraising assistant roles, in the current climate, you need both office experience and at least 4-6 months voluntary fundraising experience.

If you have no previous experience, one option is to try and volunteer or gain an internship in the fundraising department of a charitable organisation. Not only will this help you to see whether you really want to work in the sector, it will also give you valuable knowledge and experience and an additional skill to put on your CV.

For information about volunteering in the charity sector contact your local Volunteer Centre or visit the website www.do-it.org.uk. Volunteer posts are advertised in the Guardian newspaper (and on their website), the Evening Standard and in most local newspapers. Alternatively try approaching individual charities directly to find out about possible vacancies.

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