Written by Jo McGuinness MInstF(Dip), Head of Philanthropy & Partnerships at Children 1st
A year ago, I was 2 months into my current role after almost a full year of redundancy, job hunting, interim work and a general feeling of being unsettled and unsafe. I had finally been fortunate to find a role that provided me with familiarity – working with people I had worked with previously so I could feel safe, whilst doing what I loved.
My experience of intensive and stressful job hunting has stuck with me, and in my current role I feel a responsibility and desire to improve the recruitment process as much as is within my power – because, why not?
At Children 1st, we hadn’t been able to successfully recruit for a few roles before I started, so took time to review the existing process and consider what improvements could be made. We then went out in April 2022 with seven roles and filled them all.
Six of the post holders are still in post, with one who left retraining as a teacher. Before Christmas we refilled that post, using much of the same improvements to the process which have become standard within the Fundraising team.
When reviewing the current process, I spent time reflecting on what had been the main points of frustration for me as a job seeker.
Being honest about the current external climate and how that might be affecting candidates was a huge consideration. When I was job hunting it was against the background of easing out of the pandemic and whilst we aren’t back there, the cost-of-living crisis and general bin-fire state of things around us does cause feelings of insecurity for job hunters.
There are simple things recruiting managers can do to help entice job seekers to take the leap, and mainly its by being a bit more human…
One key factor when overhauling our recruitment process was really looking critically at what we could be flexible on. We have to appreciate that societies expectations have shifted since the pandemic, we aren’t returning to the old way of working, ever.
We must embrace flexibility such as remote-based working (and FYI, that isn’t new) and ensure we aren’t viewing pre-pandemic times with rose-tinted glasses. I feel concerned when I hear leaders make comments like ‘we were much more connected before 2020’ or ‘our culture has suffered because of remote working’.
Creating connection and culture are things you can do regardless of location – you just need to be intentional about it. Make time. Expend effort. We can’t rely on water cooler chats or shouting across desks to form culture – because that wasn’t good enough back then, and now a lot of fundraisers have woken up to the fact there’s another way. Organisations need to wake up too.
If you must have an office presence, be clear with candidates on:
Understand that if hybrid working or being office based is essential, it will limit your pool of candidates and affect existing workers in terms of personal preference, accessibility, cost and more.
Suggesting change can be tricky, especially if the powers that be above you aren’t convinced things need changing in the first instance. We are hearing from across the sector that recruiting fundraisers is tough. Many organisations are having to go out to recruit more than once for the same role, so we may find leaders with even the firmest of views start to be open to tweaks if it might help secure candidates.
Remember, sometimes you might need to undertake small acts of quiet rebellion and seek forgiveness not permission!
From our experience, if you only do three things to make your recruitment practise more candidate friendly, please make it these:
As recruiting managers let's not forget that we are being interviewed, too, and candidates are clearer than ever on what they want and need. We have to change, or we will be left behind.
This blog was part of an exclusive Members Clinic that Jo ran for Fundraising Everywhere Members. We hold Members Clinics every month with sector experts.
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Written by Simon Scriver
Amazon has recently announced that it will end its charity donation scheme, AmazonSmile.
It will end by February 20th with some financial assistance given by Amazon to help with the transition.
For the last 10 years, organisations have been able to link to Amazon and earn a small commission on any spending that came through your link.
Like an affiliate scheme, exclusively for charities. There’s no additional cost to you or the customer - it’s just a ‘reward’ that Amazon offers you for bringing them more business.
In theory, Amazon would also bring you new donors - those who found you by searching AmazonSmile - but in reality the chances of this happening were pretty slim.
While Amazon would have you think they’re super generous, the payment comes from their advertising budget - 0.5% is a cheap ad.
It’s one of the lowest-paying affiliate schemes out there.
Still, for many organisations, it’s been an easy win - a steady stream of commission earned from product links (think, for example, recommended books or suggested groceries).
Or can a well-used affiliate scheme provide a steady stream of additional income?
Where do you go from here? Even if you haven’t been using AmazonSmile, are the alternatives something you should be exploring?
Well, like everything in fundraising, it depends.
Personally, I think all charities can benefit from a smart partnership with a supplier that brings value to your audience. My first website, a Traveling Wilburys fansite when I was 17, generated a decent amount of monthly income by linking to a couple of music stores that stocked their then-hard-to-find music.
I would earn up to 20% of what people spent - an amount that spiked when George Harrison died and when Roy Orbison’s widow recommended my site.
These days, even Fundraising Everywhere has an affiliate scheme.
A well-placed link to a relevant product is what makes the virtual world go round.
As charities, we’re mindful of our ‘call-to-action’ within any writings, presentations and posts.
What is the logical next step our supporter is going to want to take after this interaction?
A request to donate or volunteer or subscribe is something we’re used to peppering into our communications, and those direct actions should always take priority.
But if that’s not appropriate or relevant enough, an affiliate link can be a perfect win-win-win.
This might be a link to purchase a book one your event speakers just recommended.
It might be a pet food of choice that you recommend to adopting families.
It might be a handy tool that so many of your service users have benefitted from.
It could even be Christmas cards.
Affiliate schemes are a fantastic source of income when the transaction sits logically within the work you’re already doing.
As we say goodbye to AmazonSmile, remember there are more generous solutions out there, like Give As You Live and easyfundraising.
And please do let us know if there are any particular platforms you’d like to see showcased at our FundraisingTech conference.
Also consider Amazon’s regular affiliate scheme Amazon Associates. This offers similar benefits to AmazonSmile but often pays more!
Or negotiate agreements directly with suppliers. These might even include exclusive discounts that you pass on to your audience.
Affiliate schemes can make for a good starter corporate partnership with no initial cost to the company. A relevant, transparent partnership can benefit everyone.
Corporate Partnerships Everywhere is brought to you in partnership with Remarkable Partnerships (of course!)