Fundraising salaries grew by an average of 2.8% last year, according to fundraising recruiter The Kage Partnership.

According to its Fundraising Salary Report, there was a slightly larger increase in salaries across manager level roles, with the largest hikes seen in trust fundraiser manager positions (up £2,500 to £35,500 on 2007), where demand for skills has pushed up pay, and events fundraising management (up from £32,000 to £33,500), which is becoming increasingly popular in the fundraising sector.

Average salaries for director/head of fundraising also grew by £2,500 to £46,500 over the same period.  

Liz Grimes, partner at The Kage Partnership, told Recruiter that the economic downturn has created a shift in focus for recruitment with an increase in jobseekers compared to vacancies.

“We saw the economy having an effect from the second half of the year and an increase in jobseekers compared to the number of vacancies available. Over the last four of five years it has been the other way around. But it means the quality of  work is better for recruiters - we have a wider choice and a better supply of stronger candidates. Over the past four or five years the quality has not been quite so good,” she says.

Grimes says corporate fundraising salaries have plateaued, “which is interesting because you often see quite a bit of growth at manager and officer level”.

But salaries in events have started burgeoning and Grimes says clients are increasingly looking at raising money in a “variety of different ways”.

She adds: “Trust fundraisers are still fairly difficult to find. Events over the past few years have been steady but last year we saw a shift in demand from corporate to events.”

Skills shortages remain for major donor fundraisers and direct marketing. However, Grimes is seeing an influx of people from the commercial sector attracted to direct marketing.

“We have seen a big increase in interest in fundraising jobs from the private sector and we are expecting to see even more people [as the recession continues].” 

The salary survey was based on data from more than 500 fundraising vacancies with 169 charities between January and December 2008.