Pre-Recruitment Support

Recruiting a fundraiser takes time. There’s the advertising, the interviews, the waiting around for decisions and notice periods. Meanwhile, the fundraising work still needs to happen. Trust deadlines keep coming. Cases need updating. Pipelines get forgotten.

I’ve seen more and more charities struggle with this gap. That period between someone leaving and someone new starting can stretch to six or even eight weeks, sometimes more. And while the team is managing everything else, funding starts to slide.

That’s where I’ve found I can help.

Over the last year, I’ve started offering short-term fundraising support during recruitment. It’s simple and low pressure. I come in for four to six weeks to keep the trusts side of things ticking along. That might mean submitting a few bids that are already in draft, refreshing the case for support, reviewing the pipeline, or just making sure nothing important is missed. I also put together a handover pack so the new hire walks into a clear, structured setup rather than a backlog of unfinished work.

The charities I’ve worked with have found it helpful. It gives the team breathing space and protects income while recruitment is happening in the background. Some organisations ask me to take on quite a bit. Others just want a few days of support so they know they’re not missing a major opportunity.

I’ve worked in trust fundraising for over 25 years and have supported all kinds of charities through this kind of transition. My aim is always the same — to keep things moving, stay behind the scenes, and leave things better than I found them.

If your organisation is in that in-between space and you think this kind of support could help, I’m happy to have a quick chat or send over a simple outline of how it works.