Recruitment in this area seems to be very much a revolving door. What is going wrong?
Well, first decide which of these two very distinct philosophies you wish to adopt ( see former post http://zoofunding.wordpress.com/2007/03/15/fundraising-versus-development/). The instinctive response of a zoo decision maker when first wishing to explore external funding is simply to dip their toe in the water, and hire experimentally at a modest level.
I don’t think this works.
I think you have to put some long term commitment and serious resource into the matter. If not, you simply won’t attract anyone serious. There is considerable churn within the fundraising world: you hear about the few successful individuals; but not about the majority who fail.
Some other considerations:
· there are a lot of very poor ‘fundraisers’ hiding out there ( especially inside big mainstream charities). It is easy to take credit for the general fundraising income of the charity. So if this is a first level post, you may wish to look to new graduates or professionals from another field looking to swop careers and then offer some training, rather than someone with alledgely two years fundraising or external funding experience.
· although the salary you offer is perhaps not at the highest level, the combination of working for a good cause and the fascinating world of zoos really can attract really high calibre people. In previous recruitment exercises, I have been able to short list people with Phds and Oxbridge first for pretty modest money
· make sure the prospect for advancement and personal development is there
· flag up the perks as well, …potentially some international travel, …work in pleasant surroundings with committed people, …perhaps in a very interesting or beautiful part of the country..?
· but avoid anyone who really just wants to work in a zoo or with animals at any cost · anyone with funding experience in an ‘easy’ charity ( children, certain animal causes, high profile health or hunger charity brands) need to be tested very carefully to prove their individual delivery. Someone on the other hand who can prove having raised funds for a ‘difficult’ charity ( ex-offenders, drug rehabilitation, etc ) may be worth a second look· arguably institution based charities ( museums, arts, etc) may offer more directly relevant experience
Hope these few thoughts are helpful. I will blog on this again if anyone requests this, or just pick up the phone {00 44 (0)161 434 1681} if you want to chat
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