What do fundraisers really need to thrive? Tips for fundraising recruitment and retention

Fundraising is the engine that keeps the charity sector running, yet attracting and retaining fundraising talent remains a significant challenge.  While fundraising roles continue to be among the most popular positions on our site, they attract fewer applications than many other charity sector roles. To help understand why, we surveyed fundraisers, former fundraisers and aspiring entrants. 

Here we highlight some of the most relevant findings, providing practical insights to help with fundraising recruitment, retention and re-engagement. For the complete picture, download the full report, The Voice of Fundraising: 2026 Report.

Barriers to entering fundraising 

The most striking finding from this research might be that the biggest barriers to entering fundraising are informational. We found that among sector newcomers and returners, not knowing how to get started (45%), not knowing enough about the sector (41%) and a perceived lack of qualifications (35%) were the top three obstacles, all of which recruiters have the power to address.  

There is clear motivation to enter fundraising, with 83% of newcomers citing making a difference as what drew them to the profession, and many are career-changers looking to bring transferable skills into a more purposeful environment. The sector isn’t failing to attract people, but it may be failing to make itself accessible to them. Clearer job descriptions, more transparent entry requirements and a better understanding  of what fundraising actually involves could meaningfully widen the talent pool.  

Charity sector experience 

A barrier worth noting is that 35% of newcomers believed a charity sector background was a prerequisite for getting into fundraising. This belief is likely deterring credible candidates with perfectly transferable experience from ever applying.  

If some recruiters genuinely consider a charity background essential criteria, they should be able to explain why that’s the case. If fundraising recruitment takes a skills-based hiring approach, focusing on transferable skills including influencing, stakeholder management and financial literacy, it could open the door to a broader and more diverse candidate pool, without compromising on quality.

What retains fundraisers 

We found that 81% of current fundraisers were at least ‘somewhat likely’ to remain in the profession for the next two years, which is broadly positive. However, understanding what affects that number is helpful for anyone managing a fundraising team.

Of those currently working within fundraising, 69% said they would consider leaving due to salary, making pay the single largest retention lever. This was followed by career progression (55%), better benefits (52%) and flexible working (45%).  

It’s interesting that hybrid and remote working are typically considered a strength of the charity sector, yet 45% of fundraisers still cited flexible working as a potential reason to leave. This suggests a gap between what’s offered and what’s genuinely flexible in practice. 

Stress is also an important factor, as around half of current fundraisers (48%) said they experience work stress ‘usually’ or ‘always’. This was driven primarily by performance targets (61%), heavy workloads (51%) and lack of resources or staffing (46%). However, only 33% had access to mental health resources and only 17% could take dedicated wellbeing days. Demonstrating genuine wellbeing support would help fundraising recruiters stand out from the crowd. 

What makes fundraisers actually leave 

Despite the claims of current fundraisers, amongst those who had already left fundraising, salary was not the leading reason for departure. The actual drivers of exits were career progression available elsewhere (38%), desire for a new challenge (38%), lack of flexible working (31%) and management quality (31%). 

Therefore recruiters who focus exclusively on pay as a retention tool may be solving the wrong problem. Culture, growth opportunities and management quality appear to drive exits as much as, if not more than, compensation.

Returners: a valuable talent pool 

Another actionable finding from the report concerns those who have previously worked in fundraising and would consider returning. This group combines existing sector knowledge with a clear motivation to re-engage, and many are actively wanting to build new skills: 64% wanted to develop digital fundraising capabilities and 50% were interested in data and AI tools. 

Theoretically a structured re-entry programme could unlock the potential of this group without them needing to restart their careers from scratch. Providing that they already understand the sector’s rhythms and values, the onboarding investment is likely to be significantly lower than for a new entrant, with a faster time to impact.

The impact of AI 

Roughly half (54%) of current fundraisers said they were slightly or very concerned about AI’s impact on their roles. However, the qualitative responses we received were almost universally consistent. Relationship-building, donor trust, community connection and empathetic communication were repeatedly identified as the irreplaceable core of fundraising that AI can’t replicate. 

Where fundraisers felt AI was likely to have most impact was in task-based work: bid writing, data processing and communications drafting. This was mainly seen as an opportunity rather than a threat – freeing up time for the relational work that defines the profession and that most people entered it to do. Building familiarity with relevant tools or streamlining tasks where applicable could instead make fundraising more effective.

The bigger picture for fundraising recruitment 

Our latest research alludes to a profession with genuinely high appeal but structural barriers that may be limiting its pipeline. Many of these barriers are easily addressed. 

For recruiters, the clearest opportunity lies in making fundraising more accessible. The talent is motivated and, in many cases, already looking. The task is making sure they can find their way in, and once there, feel supported enough to stay. 

Download the Voice of Fundraising: 2026 Report for the full findings, including respondent demographic breakdowns, more opinions around AI in fundraising and the specific skills respondents say the sector needs most.