The Leadership Gap: Why US Fundraisers Earn Double Their UK Counterparts

Why is fundraising in the US a respected, high-paying profession while in the UK it’s still fighting for recognition?

This isn't just a cultural curiosity; it's a strategic flaw that costs British charities millions. While the US invests in talent and sees massive returns, the UK's reluctance to professionalise is creating a leadership gap we can no longer afford. The data tells the story…

Key Findings: The US/UK Divide in Numbers

The Professional Pay Gap

• US Median Salary: £68,500 - £75,400

• UK Median Salary: £35,000 - £45,000

• US Director of Fundraising: £190,000+

• UK Director Equivalent: £66,800

The ROI of Professionalism

• For every £1 invested in a skilled fundraiser, £3-£4 is returned

• Underinvestment isn't frugality – it's lost opportunity

Certification & Skills Premium

• CFRE holders in the US see up to 16% higher salaries

• ACFRE credential can add over £62,500 per year

• UK's chartered status is still in its early stages

Culture & Perception Barrier

• 78% of UK public value fundraising

• Yet 47% of UK men don’t see it as a profession for them

Education Infrastructure Deficit

• US: 25+ specialist Master’s programmes

• UK: A handful, often limited to modules within broader courses

The Crisis of Perception in UK Fundraising

The UK nonprofit sector is facing a self-inflicted talent crisis. While leaders lament how hard it is to recruit skilled fundraisers, we simultaneously maintain a culture that repels them.

The persistent British narrative of fundraising as either noble volunteer work or an unfortunate necessity is outdated and damaging. The truth? Professional fundraising is an advanced discipline that blends:

• Data analytics

• Strategic planning

• Digital marketing

• Complex relationship management

US organisations understand this. They invest accordingly. And they outperform.

Why the US Model Succeeds: Investment, Not Overhead

Professional Philanthropy

• In the US, fundraising is core to organisational strategy

• Trustees often follow the “Give, Get, or Go” mantra

Career Infrastructure

• AFP: 30,000 members, 213 chapters

• UK CIoF: 6,000 members

• US has clear professional pathways (CFRE, ACFRE, specialist degrees)

Data-Driven ROI

• Professionally run programmes: 40-50% donor retention

• UK average: 30.7%

• A 20% increase in donor retention boosts lifetime value by 50%

The UK's Underinvestment: A Look at the Data

Country	Entry Level	Median	Director Level
United States	£39,000	£72,000	£193,000
Canada	£35,000	£54,000	£85,000
Australia	£32,000	£48,000	£78,000
United Kingdom	£24,900	£40,000	£66,800
Netherlands	£16,200	£37,000	£73,400
Germany	£11,900	£28,700	£57,800

It's Time to Close the Perception Gap

In the US, 'fundraiser' signals a seasoned professional cultivating multi-million pound donor relationships.

In the UK, the image remains stuck on face-to-face collectors, mailshots, and TV ads. This outdated perception devalues the work and deters top-tier talent.

Take the First Step with Fern Talent

If your leadership team is serious about unlocking the true potential of fundraising, it starts with changing the way it is seen.

We offer a free, no-obligation consultation with one of our senior fundraising consultants. It’s a practical, expert-led way to:

• Diagnose current gaps

• Explore income growth potential

• Begin the journey toward a fully professional fundraising function

Let’s build something better.

Email: contactus@ferntalent.com
Call: 0203 880 6655
Visit: www.ferntalent.com

The power of podcasting

Whether you love them or hate them, there’s no denying podcasts are a growing medium. Over 19.1 million Brits regularly listen to podcasts, and the number is on the rise.

Contrary to popular belief, podcasts aren’t just for celebrity gossip - they’re an untapped marketing and fundraising resource for charities.

Why podcast?

Besides raising awareness, building authority, sharing stories, and giving your brand a voice, podcasting is a low-cost and effective way to reach potential supporters and turn them into donors.

And they’re convenient, engaging, and incredibly accessible for people to listen to. It’s a win-win.

Who’s podcasting?

A growing number of charities are recognising the power of podcasts and incorporating them into their marketing & fundraising strategies.

Let’s look at a few examples.

British Red Cross

British Red Cross’s award-winning podcast, ‘More about the kind place’ gives a voice to the millions of people they support each year.  

It features powerful and moving conversations with beneficiaries, including refugees and asylum seekers, who tell their stories first-hand.

The podcast focuses on a range of topics from mental health to loneliness, grief, and masculinity.

On their website, British Red Cross explain the purpose of the podcast:

“It’s only through the power of personal experience that we can step into another’s shoes and see the world through their eyes. We hope that our podcasts build empathy and understanding for the people we support.”

Cancer Research UK

Cancer Research UK takes a different approach with their podcast, Cancer Research Matters.

The podcast features interviews with various researchers behind cancer research.

The aim is to break down complex medical topics and provoke conversation around cancer science, and how it shapes our understanding of the disease.

The first series celebrates the 20th anniversary of Cancer Research UK, by focusing on the various discoveries and breakthroughs made in cancer research over the past two decades.

The Fire Fighters Charity

Shout! explores the health and wellbeing of the UK’s fire services community.

It offers a unique insight into the physical, mental, and social challenges facing those who work on the front line, and their family and partners.

The charity’s clinical team offers tips and advice on a variety of health-related topics, from dealing with trauma to nutrition, exercise, and injury prevention.

Listeners are encouraged to take part in the show by sharing their stories and asking the experts for advice on their physical and mental health issues.

Benefits of podcasting

We’ve looked at some examples of podcasting in action. Now let’s turn our attention to the benefits of podcasting.

It’s easy to get started

All you really need to get started with a podcast is a laptop, recording software, a microphone, and a decent internet connection. Nothing fancy or expensive.

Obviously, if your podcast hits the big time, you’ll need to invest in better equipment to improve the quality, but you don’t need anything fancy to begin with.

Competition is low

While there are 60 million active Facebook business pages (including charities), there are just 5 million active podcasts (the number shrinks further when you search by topic). With this low level of competition, you’re better off having a podcast than a social media page.

They’re engaging and convenient

Unlike blog content, which has to be read, or videos that require audiences to sit and watch, all a podcast listener has to do is hit play and listen. That makes it the perfect content type for multi-tasking, which most of us do on a daily basis.

Podcast audiences are loyal

Developing a podcast audience ahead of the competition is incredibly important because listeners are loyal to their favourite programmes.

They establish relationships with the hosts and want to check back each time there is a new podcast episode.

If you can establish a strong audience before the podcast boom, it’ll be hard for your competitors to tempt them away from you.

This loyalty also translates to other marketing channels. For example, podcast listeners are 20% more likely to connect with a brand on social media.

Final Word

If this post has inspired you to launch your own charity podcast, keep an eye out for the second part of this series, where we’ll give you the lowdown on how to start a podcast.

In the meantime, if you’re looking for a tech-savvy fundraiser to manage your podcast, get in touch. We’ve got talented applicants on tap. Call us on 0203 750 3111 or email info@bamboofundraising.co.uk.

Introducing the Funding Network

Calling all small charities. Are you familiar with the Funding Network? If not, read on, as this post is for you.

What is the Funding Network?

Dubbed the “Dragon's Den” for charities, The Funding Network (TFN) is the UK’s first live crowdfunding charity.

Established by four friends in 2002, the goal was to create a forum where people could come together to learn about social change, the work of small charities, and raise funds as a group.

The priority? To make giving ‘fun, social and impactful.’

Since launching, TFN has raised over £16 million for over 2,300 charities in the UK, driving social change in the areas of human rights, climate change and the environment, health, education, inclusion, and more.

Gone global

TFN also runs an Affiliates' Programme through which they equip civil society organisations (CSOs) across the world with the skills, and resources to run their own live giving circle events.

They provide ongoing training and funding to drive community transformation in 14 countries, from Peru and Palestine to Singapore and New Zealand.

What does TFN do?

Live crowdfunding events are the beating heart of what TFN does.

They hold regular events throughout the year, both in-person and online, which connect socially minded donors with small non-profits looking for funding.

What does a live funding event look like?

Have you seen Dragon’s Den? Imagine that, but friendlier and more entertaining.

TFN events typically begin with informal networking, where guests and non-profits can get to know each other over light refreshments.

Once everyone is sitting comfortably, presenters from four pre-nominated charities are given six minutes to pitch for funding in front of 70-100 potential donors.

They can pitch for anything up to £10,000.

At the end of each pitch, the audience has six minutes to ask the presenters questions.

To ensure they get the most out of the experience, presenters take part in a workshop prior to the event, to learn how to bring their work to life through stories, and communicate their organisation’s impact in a short, compelling pitch. 

After the Q&A sessions, the presenters leave the room and the audience is led through a fun, auction-style pledging session.

They’re encouraged to pledge donations, time, or pro bono support to the four charities. 

‘Matched funding’ is a frequent and often hilarious feature of the pledging sessions, whereby one donor will pledge funds on the condition that it is matched by another pledger (or pledgers) in the room.

At the end of the pledging session, the presenters re-enter the room, and they’re told how much has been raised for their respective causes.

Twelve months after the event, each organisation provides a short report on the impact of the funds raised which is sent to all donors.

Want to find out more about what happens at a live crowdfunding event? Read this.
You can also watch some live pitches on TFN’s YouTube page.

Who attends the events?

The events are open to anyone, but the audience usually comprises of philanthropists, socially minded individuals and businesses.

How much do the events cost?

Virtual events are free to attend. Face-to-face events cost £20 for non TFN members.

Why crowdfunding?

TFN believes that giving should be fun, well informed and engaging.

Live crowdfunding offers people a unique opportunity to pool their time and resources to support small charities driving change, and to meet the inspiring individuals behind those organisations.

In the words of the charity itself, ‘live crowdfunding is about gathering people who are different from each other so that our increasingly siloed lives do not diminish our collective capacity for empathy.

It is our aim to drive social change so that we have healthier, fairer, and more sustainable communities.’

Want to apply for funding?

To apply for support, charities must be sponsored by a TFN member.

If you don’t know any TFN members, you can ask someone in your charity to become a member, with a view to sponsoring your organisation. It can be a trustee, volunteer, or a supporter, as long as it’s somebody who’s not in paid employment.

Individual membership costs £150 per year.

You can find out more about becoming a member here.

Once nominated, charities are invited to apply to pitch for £10,000.

The eligibility criteria, assessment and application process is outlined here.

To see TFN in action, watch this short film or visit their website: thefundingnetwork.org.uk.

Need a pitch-perfect fundraiser to wow the TFN crowd? We can help. Give us a call on 0203 750 3111 or email info@bamboofundraising.co.uk to get the conversation started.

Four cracking Christmas fundraising campaigns

Christmas is a time for giving, and we’re not just talking about gifts for loved ones.

52.6% of households in the UK donate to charity in December, making it one of the biggest events in the fundraising calendar.

If you haven’t launched a festive fundraising campaign, you’re missing a golden opportunity.

Here are four Christmas crackers to inspire you and spread a little festive cheer.

Christmas Dinner Game: RNID

The game was designed to tackle ‘dinner table syndrome’, a phenomenon where deaf people struggle to follow conversations around the dinner table, particularly if they’re loud and several people are talking at once.

In return for a donation of £10, people received their Christmas Dinner Game, which consisted of three sets of cards, a centrepiece for the table that reminded guests how to communicate inclusively, and place name cards with conversational ice breakers.

The game itself combined three family favourites with a deaf-aware twist:

1. Do you see what I see? Players take turns to draw a card. The picture on the card represents a phrase. Players have to guess the phrase, write it down, and hand it over to the dealer. The first person to guess correctly wins. No shouting is allowed.

2. Read my lips: Players form teams of two. Player one mouths the phrase on their card and Player two has to guess what they’re trying to say. Then they swap over.

3. Charades: Players take turns to act out Christmas-themed phrases. The first person to write down the correct answer and put up their hand up wins. There’s a penalty for anyone who shouts.

Opinion: A fun way to earn money, whilst raising awareness of the difficulties deaf people face at this time of year.

Heart Research UK: Sing for your heart

Fancy flexing your vocal cords for a good cause this Christmas? Get involved with Heart Research UK’s Sing for Your Heart campaign, and you can show off your skills whilst raising money for an important cause.

The premise is simple: Members of the public are invited to ‘sing, donate and nominate’ by uploading a video of themselves singing to social media (tagging #singforyourheart) donating £3, and nominating three others to do the same.

The campaign launched in 2017, and was headed up by 6-year-old Jaxon Green-Moore, who was born with a condition called LEOPARD Syndrome. This video tells Jaxon’s story.

Jaxon was invited to spearhead the campaign as the charity has supported him since he was a baby, and he wanted to give back.

Little did he know how popular the campaign would become.

The campaign went viral after Pixie Lott, Boyzone, Alesha Dixon, and Piers Morgan got behind it.

It reached more than 16 million people and raised thousands for the charity.

Still going strong today, it’s become a key annual Christmas fundraiser.

You can join in the fun here.

Opinion: We love this campaign as it’s fun, easy to take part in, and has proven health benefits. On the sign-up page, the charity says; ‘research has shown that singing exercises your lungs, increases blood flow, and reduces stress. That’s why, for over a decade, we have asked people to Sing for Your Heart during the festive period and raise money for pioneering research into the prevention, treatment, and cure of heart disease’.

Blood Cancer UK: Movie Watch Party

Everyone loves a Christmas movie, which is why Blood Cancer UK’s ‘Movie Watch Party’ is inspired.

On Sunday 11 December at 3pm, people across the UK will be switching on their TV sets to watch the Christmas classic, Home Alone, to help people with blood cancer.

The charity is asking participants to donate what they would normally spend on a night at the cinema ( they suggest £15 for a single ticket, £25 for a family ticket, and, an extra £10 for popcorn and an oversized drink).

The charity has set up a Facebook group with the hashtag #HomeButNotAlone where they’re sharing Home Alone content in the lead-up to the event. They’re also setting participants fun challenges.

Want to join in? You can sign up here.

Opinion: This is a simple, but effective way to raise funds and awareness. Home Alone is a classic feel-good movie - perfect for a cold, dreary Sunday afternoon. And participants don’t have to get off the sofa to take part.

TrustFord: The Grinch ‘steals’ donations

This one is not charity-driven, but we’re including it as it’s fun, festive, and a great example of corporate generosity.

In December 2021, a series of car dealerships in East London were ‘robbed’ by a familiar Christmas character.

The Grinch crept into three Ford dealerships and ‘stole’ 40 bags of food, four large shopping trays, and three boxes of food.

He then delivered them to a local food bank in Dagenham.

The dealership has donated to the food bank each Christmas since 2019, but this year, it got creative with its drive, branding the campaign as ‘The Grinch that stole Christmas’.

Opinion: Hats off to TrustFord. They came up with a creative way to raise awareness of their donation (incidentally, the stunt got them coverage in the local press) while doing a good deed.

Final Word

These are four of our favourite Christmas fundraising ideas. What would you add?

Don’t forget, we’re here to support you with your fundraising talent requirements, at Christmas, or any other time of the year.

Call us to get the conversation started on 0203 750 3111.

4 ways to promote your fundraising events for free

You’ve seen the news. The cost of living is soaring, and money is tight for everyone, including charities.

More than ever, you need to be smart about how you spend your money.

With this in mind, here are four ways to promote your fundraising events without spending a penny.

Get free ads from Google for charities

With 2.9 billion unique monthly visitors and 5 billion daily interactions, Google is a fantastic place to promote your fundraising events and reach potential donors. And Google Ads is a great way to do it. But it’s a costly business - unless you qualify for a Google Ad Grant.

Through the Google Ads Grant initiative, eligible charities can get over £7,500 of free Google ads each month.

To find out if your charity qualifies, check out the eligibility criteria and application process on the Google for Non-profits page.

Use the power of social media

Social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn have millions of users who go online every day. Being part of the groups and communities your target audience frequent can be a great way to market your events to a captive audience.

Just remember that there’s a difference between promoting and spamming. If all you do on social media is ask for donations, people will unfollow you.

Offer interesting, unique and/or valuable content and drip feed exciting details about your events online and you’ll soon see engagement rates soar.

Get media attention

Local newspapers are often hunting for stories. A community fundraising event can be a great page-filler. Depending on your cause or the type of event you’re running, there may also be specialist blogs or magazines that would be interested in promoting it.

Do your homework. Find relevant media outlets to approach, write an engaging press release and send them out in advance of your event.

Just bear in mind that free promotion isn’t guaranteed!

Don’t forget about email marketing

Did you know that email marketing, when applied correctly, is still one of the most effective ways to reach your audience and keep them engaged?

It’s an effective strategy for event promotion as its targeted, personalised and has a high ROI.

There are lots of free/low-cost email marketing tools that can help you create personalised, attention-grabbing emails to promote your events.

Want some recommendations? Mailchimp, HubSpot and Sender are three low cost, effective and user friendly options.

Tip: If you go down this route, be sure to keep on top of your mailing list. Make sure the data is accurate, up-to-date and It may be tedious, but it’s worth it.

No matter how much promotional work you do, your fundraising events will only be successful if you have the right team running them.

This is where we come in. Give us a call on 0203 750 3111 or email info@bamboofundraising.co.uk to get started.