Moving into fundraising from the private sector: what transfers and what doesn’t

If you have spent years in commercial sales, account management or business development and find yourself wondering whether your work could mean something more, there is a piece of data you should see first.

CharityJob’s 2026 salary report analysed more than 55,000 charity roles posted during 2025. Fundraising had the second-highest number of vacancies of any category – 5,568 jobs – and received the lowest number of “Apply” clicks. More opportunities than almost anywhere else in the sector, and fewer people going for them.

That is unusual. It also means the route into the charity sector that most career changers overlook is the one where they would face the least competition, and where their existing skills happen to be worth the most.

This article is an honest account of what transfers, what doesn’t, and what it costs.

Why the shortage exists

Fundraising has a marketing problem within its own talent pool. People who want to work for a cause tend to apply for programme, policy or communications roles, because those feel closest to the mission. Fundraising sounds like sales, and sales sounds like the thing they were trying to leave behind.

Meanwhile charities have become more dependent on high-value income than ever. Corporate partnerships and philanthropy have taken on more weight as trusts and foundations have tightened, with many funders reducing targets and closing applications earlier. That has pushed demand towards exactly the disciplines that need commercial skills and the sector has not been able to grow those people fast enough internally.

The result is a genuine gap, and it sits precisely where a commercial background is most valuable.

What transfers directly

If you have run a pipeline or managed accounts, more of your experience is relevant than you probably think.

Pipeline management. Corporate partnerships and philanthropy run on qualified pipelines with stages, probabilities and forecast income. The language differs, you will talk about prospects and cultivation rather than leads and conversion but the discipline is identical. Charities frequently hire people specifically because their internal teams have never had rigorous pipeline management.

Long-cycle relationship building. A six-figure corporate partnership takes twelve to eighteen months to close. Anyone from enterprise or complex B2B sales already knows how to hold a relationship across a long cycle with multiple stakeholders and no immediate reward. This is one of the hardest things to teach.

Account growth and retention. Charities have historically been much better at winning support than keeping it. Experience in growing existing accounts rather than continually chasing new ones is genuinely scarce and increasingly valued, as more organisations create dedicated stewardship roles to protect donor lifetime value.

Negotiation and commercial framing. Understanding what a company actually wants from a partnership – brand association, employee engagement, ESG reporting, access to expertise – lets you construct proposals that work commercially rather than simply asking for money. Fundraisers who came up through the sector sometimes find this uncomfortable. You will not.

Data literacy. CRM discipline, reporting, segmentation. Charity teams often have the system and not the habits.

What doesn’t transfer

Being clear-eyed about this matters, because the gaps are where interviews are won and lost.

The ask is not a close. Commercial selling assumes mutual benefit in a transaction. Fundraising asks someone to part with money for a cause with no direct return, which changes the psychology entirely. Pushing for a close at the wrong moment can end a relationship that took a year to build. The instinct to drive towards signature is the single most common thing that catches commercial hires out.

Sector compliance is real and unfamiliar. The Fundraising Regulator’s Code of Fundraising Practice, GDPR as it applies to donor data, gift acceptance policies, due diligence on corporate partners. None of this is difficult, but none of it is optional, and interviewers will check you understand that fundraising is a regulated activity.

Grant and trust writing is a distinct craft. If you are drawn to trusts and foundations, be aware this is a writing discipline with its own conventions, and commercial proposal experience only partly prepares you for it. It is also the discipline currently under the most pressure, with static income and intensifying competition, so it is not the easiest entry point.

Internal influence works differently. You will not have a sales director clearing obstacles. You will need programme colleagues to give you impact data, finance to model restricted funding, and senior leadership to attend cultivation events. Persuading colleagues who do not report to you and who may be sceptical of fundraising is a substantial part of the job.

Motivation will be tested. Every interview panel has met the candidate who wanted a change of pace and left within a year. You need a better answer than “I want to do something meaningful” – one that connects specifically to that organisation’s work.

The pay question, answered honestly

Most people assume the drop is severe. In aggregate, it is smaller than expected: research by Pro Bono Economics for the Law Family Commission on Civil Society found that charity sector employees earn around 7% less per hour on average than comparable workers elsewhere in the economy.

The important caveat is that the gap is not evenly spread. It is widest in exactly the specialisms where charity pay diverges most sharply from commercial equivalents – finance, digital, data and fundraising. So if you are moving from a commercial business development role, expect the drop to be larger than 7%.

What that looks like in practice, from our own market data:

• Experienced new business fundraisers typically command £45,000-£55,000, reflecting the premium charities place on income generation
• Account management and stewardship roles sit slightly lower at £40,000-£45,000, because charities remain less willing to pay a premium for positions delivering a lower immediate return
• Entry-level fundraising roles often start in the mid-£20,000s

A few things soften the picture. There is still a London premium of roughly 21%, though salaries outside London are rising faster and closing the gap. Hybrid roles made up 51% of charity jobs posted, offered the highest median salary at £39,500, and showed the strongest year-on-year growth. And contrary to what most people assume, small charities recorded the highest median salary and the largest increases, so the biggest names are not automatically the best paid.

Commission does not exist. Neither does the variable-pay upside. For some people that is a loss; for others, being judged on relationships built rather than quarterly numbers is the entire point.

Do you need a qualification?

No. There is no mandatory qualification to work as a fundraiser, and the Chartered Institute of Fundraising is explicit that people enter the profession from the private and public sectors at all career stages.

That said, the CIoF’s Certificate in Fundraising takes around twelve months and signals commitment, which matters when you are competing against candidates with sector experience. It is worth considering once you are in a role rather than as a prerequisite for getting one – most people are better served putting that effort into understanding the specific cause they want to work for.

Where to aim

Not all fundraising disciplines are equally open to career changers.

Corporate partnerships is the most natural landing point. New business development, pitching, account growth and commercial negotiation map almost directly, and demand is strong.

Philanthropy and major giving is realistic if you have experience with senior stakeholders and long relationship cycles. The cultivation approach differs, but the underlying skill of building trust with individuals who have significant resources is the same one.

Individual giving suits people from performance marketing, CRM or direct response backgrounds more than salespeople, since it is campaign and data driven rather than relationship driven.

Trusts and foundations is the hardest entry point from outside, both because the writing craft is specific and because the discipline is under the most financial pressure.

Making the move

A few things that consistently make the difference:

1. Pick a cause you can speak about credibly. Not the most famous charity, one whose work you can discuss with genuine knowledge. Panels can tell the difference immediately.
2. Translate your CV into sector language. “Managed a £2m portfolio of enterprise accounts” should become a demonstration of pipeline value, stakeholder management and multi-year relationship stewardship. Do not make them do the translation for you.
3. Volunteer on a fundraising committee. A few months on a charity’s fundraising or events committee gives you sector reference points and removes the “no charity experience” objection entirely.
4. Learn the Code. Read the Fundraising Regulator’s Code of Fundraising Practice before an interview. Referencing it credibly signals you understand this is a regulated profession, not sales with a nicer logo.
5. Be honest about the money in the first conversation. If the salary drop is a problem, say so early. A good recruiter will tell you which disciplines and which organisations can get closest to your number rather than letting you spend six weeks on a process that was never going to work.

Talk to us

Merrifield Consultants works exclusively with charities, membership bodies and not-for-profits, placing fundraising talent across London and the Home Counties. We speak to people making this move regularly, and we are straightforward about when it makes sense and when it doesn’t.

If you are considering it, get in touch and we will give you an honest read on where your experience would land and what it would be worth.

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