Is it Your First Time Interviewing? Avoid These 5 Mistakes!

Interviews can make even the most seasoned candidates quake in their boots, but they can be equally as daunting for interviewers, particularly first-timers.

If you want to avoid wasting time, money, and precious resources, it’s essential to get it right.

Here are five common interview mistakes to avoid.

1. Not having a clear picture of what you want

If you don’t see a target clearly, chances are you’ll miss it.

Do you have a clear picture in your mind of the skills, traits, and experience you’re looking for? Are the rest of the interview panel in agreement?

Get everyone involved in the hiring process. Agree on the key priorities and accomplishments needed from your new fundraiser.

2. Being too quick to judge

Unicorn candidates are hard to come by. You’re unlikely to find a candidate that ticks every box, so be realistic and open-minded when shortlisting CVs.

You may be concerned about an employment gap, but try not to form opinions about candidates before you meet them.

While your concerns may be justified; your assumptions could be way off the mark.

3. Not putting candidates at ease

You want candidates to talk openly and honestly, right? Then set them up to do so.

Smile, greet them warmly, and show an interest in them.

As obvious as they seem, these small gestures are key to setting the tone for a relaxed and open exchange.

And find a quiet room to hold interviews in.

The candidates will already be nervous. Ringing phones won’t help matters.

4. Evaluating candidates on the wrong factors

One of the most common mistakes rookie interviewers make is looking for new recruits with the same personalities/traits as existing employees.

However, a candidate with a complementary, rather than identical skill set may be of greater benefit to the team.

Although it’s important to bear cultural fit in mind, the most successful organisations have diverse teams made up of people with different personalities, and skillsets.

5. Failing to sell your organisation

An interview is a two-way street. It’s just as important for you to sell the charity to candidates as it is for them to sell themselves to you.

This is particularly important in the charity sector, where talented employees are in high demand.

Think through the key selling points of the role, the organisation, and your culture, and be sure to communicate them clearly.

Are you hiring? We can help you find the right person for the job. Call us on 0203 750 3111 for an informal chat. 

Five reasons to enter charity awards

Third Sector Awards. Charity Times Awards. Purpose Awards.

These are just three of many awards that celebrate the achievements and contributions of charities each year.

If you haven’t done the rounds and entered your charity, you’re missing out.

Why? Being nominated and, fingers crossed, winning an award can do wonders for your reputation.

Here are five reasons why.

Your expertise will be recognised

Winning or being shortlisted for an award reinforces you as an expert in your niche. While you know how fantastic you are, being nominated by an impartial panel of experts is independent praise for the work you do, which counts for a lot.

You’ll attract new talent

Every fundraiser wants to work for an innovative charity with good credentials.

A prestigious award is proof to the employment market that you run a forward-thinking, successful organisation.

It’ll motivate your employees

Awards are a great way of recognising your employees’ hard work and achievements. This can be a great morale booster, particularly if you take them to the awards ceremony with you.

It’ll reassure donors and funders

Being shortlisted for, or winning an award is a great way form of third-party validation. It’s a signal to potential donors and funders that their money is safe in your hands.

You’ll get a ton of free publicity

An award entry is a surefire way to secure free publicity. The organisers will want to maximise PR for the event, so as a nominee, your name will, at the very least, appear on their website, social media channels, and press releases.

Ready to apply? We’ll give you the lowdown on the best awards to enter in our next ‘charity awards’ post.

In the meantime, if you’re looking for a fundraiser to put your entry together, we can help. Call us on 020 3750 3111 to get started.

Six reasons to use a recruiter to find your next job

Job hunting is a tedious process, isn’t it? You spend hours scrolling through websites to find roles that pique your interest, often to no avail. And then, when you do find a job you’re excited about, you spend ages perfecting your application and applying but never hear anything back.

It’s stressful and disheartening, but you stick at it, as it’s the only way, isn’t it?

Nope! Recruitment agencies can help, in more ways than you may think.

Here are seven reasons to use a recruiter to help you find your next job.

1. They can make your job hunt more manageable

Job hunting is time-intensive. From finding new opportunities and carrying out research to chasing up responses, there’s a lot to stay on top of.

Align yourself with a good recruitment agency and they’ll do it all for you.

They’ll send you suitable opportunities, liaise directly with employers, organise interviews, and provide you with feedback at each stage of the process.

2. They have access to opportunities you won't find elsewhere

Charity recruiters are professional networkers. They make it their business to know who’s hiring, who’s planning to hire, when, and why.

They also have access to roles that aren’t posted online.

Whether it’s due to a lack of time or resources, some charities opt not to post their jobs online. Instead, they outsource their recruitment to agencies.

What does this mean for you? If you go down the recruiter route, you’ll have access to a plethora of unique roles you won’t find scouring the job boards.

3. You’ll be given invaluable advice

Good recruitment agencies don’t just fire off CVs. They go the extra mile for candidates.

From tweaking your CV and filling out application forms to interview coaching, they’ll provide you with whatever help you need to bag the role.

The icing on the cake? If you receive an offer and you’re not happy with the salary, they’ll negotiate on your behalf.

4. They’ll advocate for your talent

A key benefit of using a recruiter is they’re in direct communication with hiring managers.

This means they’re in a unique position to advocate for you.

They can highlight your talents, vouch for your soft skills (which are notoriously difficult to gauge from a CV), and convince them you’re the right fit for the organisational culture.

You can’t do this if you go it alone.

5. You’re guaranteed feedback

One major downfall of applying directly to charities is you might not hear back from them.

When you go through a recruitment agency, feedback is part and parcel of the service.

As the middle-man in the process, they’ll provide you with invaluable insight into what worked, what didn’t work, and what you can do to improve your chances of success with the next application.

6. Their services are free

Candidates aren’t changed for using agencies. They get paid by the client once a candidate has been hired.

So, you’ve got nothing to lose.

Final Word

Whether you’re starting your career, re-entering the workforce, or looking for a new challenge, it pays to partner up with an agency.

As fundraising specialists, we’re well-placed to help. Call us on 0203 750 3111 to get started.

Charities opinions sought on Government's ten-year mental health review

Mental health is a hot topic, both in the third sector and beyond. People have long been campaigning for it to be put on an equal footing with physical health.

Well, it seems the Government has listened.

This week, they’ve issued a call for evidence to inform a new ten-year mental health plan, and they want to hear from you.

In the words of the Department of Health and Social Care, “we need to take a radical, cross-society approach to promote wellbeing, intervene earlier, improve treatment, and support people with mental health conditions to live well”.

This is something we can all get behind.

The consultation is open until 7 July and aims to find out what people think about mental health and wellbeing and how support services can be improved.

They want responses from everyone who has personal experience of poor mental health, as well as those who work to support them.

This is where charities come in.

The Department of Health and Social Care is seeking answers to a few key questions:

• How can we all promote positive mental wellbeing?

• How can we all prevent the onset of mental ill-health?

• How can we all intervene earlier when people need support with their mental health?

• How can we improve the quality and effectiveness of treatment for mental health conditions?

• How can we all support people living with mental health conditions to live well?

• How can we all improve support for people in crisis?

The answers will be used to inform a ten-year plan to improve the support that’s available and reduce the number of people who develop mental health conditions.

If your charity supports people with mental health issues, you have a unique opportunity to communicate where the system is failing and how it can be improved.

Want to have your say? You can do so here.

Are you interested in working for a mental health charity? We can help you find the right role at the right charity. Give us a call on 0203 750 3111 to find out how.

6 fantastic fundraising campaigns from around the world

From the London Marathon and Children in Need to Race for Life and Movember, we hear about inspirational fundraising campaigns from the UK all the time.

But amazing fundraising events take place across the world, every day.

Let’s take a look at a few.

1. Saigon Children’s Charity – Asia

COVID-19 put a kibosh on events around the world. But Vietnamese charity SaigonChildren didn’t let the pandemic stop them. Instead of cancelling their annual fundraiser in support of children’s education, the organisation innovated.

Their in-person gala became a hybrid gala.

Rather than dine at the venue, guests were encouraged to host private dinner parties at their homes. Food prepared by the city’s top chefs was either cooked on-site or delivered to them. TVs were set up to broadcast the live show and auction booklets with QR codes were sent to guests for remote bidding.

The charity was allowed to send volunteers to each venue so no matter where people were, there was someone from the charity on-hand to ensure everything ran smoothly.

2. Share My Super – Oceania

In New Zealand, people over the age of 65 receive a government pension known as the New Zealand Superannuation, or NZ Super, regardless of their income or savings.

Share My Super is an innovative approach to fundraising that connects people who don’t need a pension with charities fighting child poverty.

This is a great way to encourage people with spare money to do something meaningful with it.

3. APOPO – Europe

Founded in Belgium, APOPO is an unusual charity that now operates worldwide.

In the 1990s, the charity discovered that rats could be trained to sniff out landmines.

The charity has been training rodents to make the world safer ever since.

A few years later, they found that rats can detect tuberculosis, and have been training another group of ‘HeroRATs’ to do just that.

To fund their work, APOPO invites people to adopt a rat via their website. They also give supporters the option to buy dinner for two… rats, of course.

4. PSYDEH – North America

PSYDEH is an award-winning non-profit that supports women from indigenous, migrant, and rural communities in Mexico through empowerment and education. Their aim is to create an equitable country where women can make their own decisions.

PSYDEH uses photography, film, and animation to raise awareness of the issues affecting these groups. From exhibitions to short clips shared on social media, their artistic approach helps to generate awareness, empathy, and donations.

Considering the human brain processes images up to 60,000 times faster than words, it’s not just emotionally powerful, it’s efficient too.

5. Lar da Menina – South America

What do you get if you bring together a group of Brazilian nuns, a Volkswagen Beetle, and a viral video? $55,000 to support children living in poverty.

The nuns of Lar da Menina decided to host a raffle to sell their VW Beetle, to raise money. A bizarre start. But it gets better. The video they made to promote the stunt wasn’t an emotive appeal highlighting the work they do and how people’s donations could help. It was all about the chance to win a car that had been owned by nuns – dubbed ‘their Blessed Beetle’.

In Brazilian culture, VW Beetles especially are a big deal, so the campaign caused quite a stir.

The video was shared so much, it caught the attention of the national media. The nuns appeared on TV, helping them sell thousands of raffle tickets.

For an investment of $3000, the savvy nuns saw a $45,000 return. Amen to that.

Looking for a creative fundraiser to supercharge your next campaign? Give us a call on 0203 750 3111 to find out how we can help.