Struggling to Recruit a Charity Bid Writer..? 5 Tips for Charities

In recent months, a few charities have asked me for advice on how to recruit a good bid writer. Indeed, charities seem to be really struggling to fill trust fundraising posts. Many charities are reporting that they are hardly getting any applications for posts, that the applicants they do get seem too inexperienced or unsuitable for the position, and/or that when they do recruit a fundraiser it often doesn’t work out very well.

I was recently asked by a small charity for my opinion on why it can be so hard to recruit a bid writer. My immediate response was that there’s a skills shortage in this area. There are hundreds of bid writer jobs being advertised in the charity sector alone, and – particularly post-Covid – many or most of these roles can be offered remotely and many of them are very well paid. Charities are competing with many other organisations for a limited pool of trust fundraisers. For small charities with small budgets, this can be particularly difficult. And bid writing isn’t the most popular profession. There’s a shortage of skilled bid writers for sure.

Later, after that conversation, I ran a search on CharityJob with the keyword ‘Trusts.’ It brought up 884 jobs (of which 308 of those pay over £40,000 and 70 over £60,000).

Why is it hard to recruit charity bid writers?

Not only are charities competing with other charities but they’re potentially competing with commercial bid writing positions (often better paid) and other writing roles (often more creative and less pressured or target driven). To find a good bid writer, you need to find someone who is excellent at writing, editing, research, communication, project management etc. and who can also cope with the stress and deadlines that are part of such a target-driven role. Many writers and project managers will choose less-pressured work. It seems that there are simply not enough people doing this work.

Hayley Wood, a business director in the bids sector (mainly focusing on commercial bid writing) has just reported that there is an exodus from the bids industry. From a survey of 380 people, almost 40% of bid writers felt underappreciated and 41% felt stressed by the pressure and deadlines.

Last year, Civil Society reported that charities were increasingly struggling with recruitment and staff retainment. And there’s been ample coverage of the high percentage of fundraisers planning to quit their jobs. Of course, there’s a myriad of factors – low wages (on the whole), high pressure, and insecure jobs (which often rely on a charity securing ongoing funding).

But it’s not all doom and gloom. Charity grant writing – as tedious, fiddly and frustrating as it can sometimes be – is highly rewarding. And there are certainly things that charities can do to assist the recruitment process.

5 tips to help with recruiting trust fundraisers

1.     Remember that skills, work ethic and dedication count for everything

Do you need a degree to be a bid writer? No.

Do you need to have worked in the charity sector to be a charity bid writer? No.

I know a number of really brilliant CEOs who didn’t go to university. They didn’t get a degree and they don’t need one. What they do have is the skills needed to be a great CEO. It’s the same in fundraising.

I started my first bid writing position without any bid writing expertise and with no paid charity work experience. What I had were solid writing and editing skills, a good work ethic and a passion for the cause. I had a degree, but I didn’t need one for the role. Of course, the skills that I’d built up through that degree helped (writing, research, critical thinking, etc.) but work/voluntary experience may have helped just as much in other ways.

Don’t overlook applicants because they don’t have bid-writing or charity work experience, or because they don’t have a degree. Assess them through demonstrable skills.

• What is their experience in terms of writing, research and project management?

• Does their CV/application and supporting statement demonstrate excellent error-free writing, relevant skills, and real passion for the cause?

• Give them a trust-related writing test at interview that requires them to think on their feet and demonstrate brilliant, persuasive, impactful writing.

Look for clear and demonstrable evidence of strengths across writing, research, editing, communication, and project management. Be open to people from other sectors with transferable skills (such as corporate bid writers or copywriters) and be open to recruiting remote workers.

2.     Pay properly!

A good fundraiser will bring in far more than you pay them – not just in monetary terms but also in terms of what they might put in place (good systems and processes, new opportunities and partnerships, better impact reporting etc.). Many organisations rely entirely on fundraising efforts to continue and grow their work. Fundraisers deserve to be compensated properly.

Look at what you pay your fundraisers. How does it compare with similar-sized organisations? How does it relate to other pay for staff members across your organisation? How does it relate to your overall income and expenditure?

Paying your fundraisers properly and recruiting wisely will help to avoid long recruitment processes and poor staff retention.  

Review salaries regularly, in line with inflation and other pressures. Be transparent about what you can pay. Use sliding scales to attract a range of applicants.

3.     Create a role that is flexible and can grow with the candidate

A while ago I didn’t apply for a trust fundraising role because they’d listed public speaking and pitching as an essential part of the role. Other than that one thing, my experience and skills would’ve been a perfect fit.

Not to generalise too much (!), but trust fundraising is often suited to quieter types who like to write and research. For introverted fundraisers like me, public speaking was totally off-putting. Be flexible and you’re much more likely to cast your net wide (or, if you really think it’s necessary, list skills like public speaking as ‘desirable’ not ‘essential.’).

Create a job advert that shows a fundraiser that they can make the job their own, even if the role is trusts-related. What else can you offer them – scope to define their role and be involved with a range of other duties if they want . . . fundraising strategies, web content or blogging or appeals, building up a volunteer fundraising team, and so on.

4.     Highlight what’s amazing about your charity and cause, and show that you’re supportive and realistic!

What is unique about your charity? Why is it an amazing place to work? And what can you offer employees – a supportive environment, opportunities for promotion, good working conditions, pay rises, staff events. Fundraising can be a difficult and lonely endeavour – show your applicants that you see fundraising as a collective pursuit (requiring broad staff/trustee input), and that they’ll feel involved and supported. And be realistic about fundraising targets and how grant writing sits alongside other fundraising initiatives.

Celebrate the impact of your work and the fundability of it, and show where you have existing strengths (good relationships with funders, good evaluation and monitoring processes, etc.).

Laura Howdill, fundraising consultant, suggests focusing on the storytelling aspects of the role when you advertise. Indeed, trust fundraising is far more than just form-filling, it’s about bringing the charity’s work to life and raising the voices of the charity’s beneficiaries. It’s also about showing funders how you align with them and how you can work together.

5.     Advertise broadly and thoughtfully

Advertise widely and think about different channels – social media, recruiters, student job platforms, through partner organisations, and through platforms seen by writers. Encourage and welcome pre-application chats with potential applicants. Don’t make your application processes too onerous.

Think about the job title: ‘Development manager’ will obviously attract different candidates from ‘Trust fundraiser’ etc. and reflect different skills and pay scales. You may widen the pool with a broader title like ‘Fundraiser’ even if bids are the main focus. Consider what you want and need. For the same budget, is it better to recruit a senior manager for less hours a week or a more junior team member for more hours. I know of charities who have only managed to recruit once they’ve readvertised – this time for a senior position with higher pay.

And, while you’re trying to recruit a bid writer…

• Consider hiring a freelance trust fundraiser or consultant. They can provide support with prospect research, trust and fundraising strategies, and interim support with grants. They can streamline your processes and put everything in place for when you do successfully recruit. They can even help with the recruitment process – helping you to select the right candidate or by providing support or mentoring. Once you’ve formed a good working relationship, they may also come back in the future to do ad hoc work.

• Consider recruiting volunteer fundraisers, including people with backgrounds in fundraising, writing, editing etc. These volunteers can then support a trust fundraiser once they’re in post. Or, they can support an interim fundraiser or other team members involved in grant writing.

• If you can submit some applications without a designated trust fundraiser in post, prioritise the really strong prospects (where the charity has an existing relationship, or where the funder is an excellent match etc.). Make contact with funders to check whether you’re a good fit and keep them informed about the difference that their funding is making.

•  And, dare I say it, there’s AI and ChatGPT as potential tools to assist in the grants process. However, there are lots of issues to consider such as data/confidentiality issues and genericism – and this also takes up ample staff/trustee time of course . . .

  . . . but that’s a subject for another time . . .