By Philippa Randle FRSA, Principal Consultant, Philanthropy and Fundraising Leadership, Charity People
Every week I talk to charity CEOs and trustees about their next fundraising hire. Increasingly, those conversations start in the same place. Income is growing, reserves aren’t, and the organisation is less able to act on its own priorities than it was.
The cause is rarely a lack of fundraising success. It’s the shape of that success. And I believe the answer lies less in the funding market than in how charities define, hire and back their fundraising leaders.
What the numbers tell us
Restricted funding is a genuine vote of confidence, and charities are right to pursue it. But its true value is often misread.
When nfpSynergy surveyed charity fundraisers, they found a £100,000 restricted grant was worth around £55,000 of unrestricted income once reporting, administration and reduced flexibility were accounted for. When they asked the same question in 2012, the answer was £70,000. Smaller charities placed the highest value on flexibility.
There is also reason for optimism. According to Third Sector Trends in England and Wales 2025, the share of organisations receiving unrestricted or core funding rose from 46% in 2019 to 60% in 2022, then eased back to 56% in 2025. The smallest organisations remain least likely to receive it, at 43%. The pandemic proved funders can move towards flexibility. The question now is whether charities can keep that momentum going.
Where I see organisations getting stuck
When unrestricted income comes under pressure, the instinct is to pause recruitment. I understand why: salaries are the most visible cost and the easiest to defer.
The reality is that the role most often paused is a Director of Development or Head of Fundraising, the person who’s also best placed to fix the problem. Pausing hiring protects this year’s budget at the expense of next year’s resilience.
The organisations I see making real progress treat that hire as an investment in their future and independence, not as overhead.
The fundraising leader the sector now needs
The briefs I’m working on have changed noticeably. “Grow income” has become “grow unrestricted income, while leading a complex restricted portfolio with confidence.” In my experience, the leaders who succeed in these roles share four qualities:
- Financial fluency. They understand full cost recovery, reserves and the real value of every grant. They are as comfortable with the finance director as with a major donor.
- Portfolio thinking. They manage income as a balanced mix and know when a restricted opportunity strengthens the organisation and when it quietly weakens it.
- Funder partnership. They can have honest conversations with funders about core costs and flexibility, and they bring evidence to support them.
- Internal influence. They champion fundraising across the organisation, secure board support for investment and build a culture where everyone understands where the money comes from.
These leaders exist, but they are in demand. Organisations that know exactly what they’re looking for are the ones that secure them.
Five questions to ask before pausing a fundraising hire
- What would this role deliver in unrestricted income over three years, and what does pausing it cost us?
- Does our current job description reflect our income mix today, or when it was last written?
- How far are we from a healthy level of reserves? Three to six months of running costs is a common benchmark, though the Charity Commission encourages each charity to set a policy that fits its own risks.
- How much of our income is tied to specific programmes, and how much room does that leave us to manoeuvre?
- Do our CEO, senior team and board agree on what success in this role looks like?
If those questions reveal a clearer case for the role, the right move is often to reset the brief rather than pause the search.
My advice: reset, don’t retreat
Bring your leadership team together, redefine the role around the income challenge you actually face, and go to market with a sharper brief. In my experience, that clarity attracts stronger candidates and leads to hires who make a measurable difference quickly.
Restricted funding will always matter to our sector. But the charities that thrive over the next decade will be the ones that invest in leaders who can build the flexibility to use it well.
I’d welcome your perspective. How is your organisation balancing restricted and unrestricted income, and how is it shaping the roles you hire for?
If you’re navigating a senior appointment or simply want to talk through what the market looks like for your specific needs, Kevin and Philippa would love to hear from you.
Contact Philippa
Philippa Randle is an executive search and fundraising recruitment specialist with over 15 years’ experience in fundraising and recruitment, building lasting relationships and connecting exceptional fundraisers and non-profit leaders with purpose-drive organisations.
As Principal Consultant with Charity People, she has led over 100 specialist, senior and board-level searches across the UK’s charity, arts and higher education sectors.
Philippa can be reached at philippa@charitypeople.co.uk or 07563 030588.
Sources
nfpSynergy findings, reported by UK Fundraising: fundraising.co.uk
Third Sector Trends in England and Wales 2025, Community Foundation North East: communityfoundation.org.uk
Charity Commission, Charities and reserves (CC19): gov.uk
Recent Comments