How to tailor your CV for a fundraising manager role

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Laura Sullivan at TopCV shares her advice on how to ensure your fundraising manager CV hits the mark.

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A career in the fundraising sector is a rewarding one. Not only do you get to work amongst the charity scene making a difference, but you also utilise a spectrum of professional and highly marketable skills, such as organisational behaviour, event management and strategy.

If you’re looking to progress to a managerial-level position within the sector, here are some expert tips on preparing your CV for a mid-level job in fundraising.

Showcase your personal brand in your professional profile

Your CV should showcase your personal brand, and in turn, your likeability. After all, you’ll be heading up a team. This is even more important when it comes to the fundraising sector, as not only is it a client-facing industry, but typically a friendly, moral-driven one too.

Take the time to consider what drives you, what makes you different from other leaders in your industry, and your professional mantra. This should help you understand the exact value you can add to the role and the organisation.

Once you have established that, you stand a stronger chance of convincing recruiters that you’re the talented professional they need. Inject this genuine personality into your personal profile as it’s the first section the recruiter will read.

Prove you know your stuff immediately

Your CV must communicate your core competencies and skills no matter what level you’re at. 

However, when it comes to a managerial-level CV, it’s important to highlight your core qualifications and experiences in relation to the job description as quickly as possible. This is because recruiters expect you to be slick and qualified in many areas as you’re shooting for this level role. 

To compensate, create a ‘key skills’ or ‘core competencies’ section underneath your professional profile. In this section, list your most relevant and current skills to show the recruiter exactly why you’re suitable. 
Always remember to tailor your abilities to the job in question, too.

Focus on your managerial achievements and potential

Including a snapshot of your key qualities near the top of your CV is a great way to set the tone for the reader. However, you need to expand on these competencies in your employment history, detailing your achievements and how you developed your skills, to prove your value.

When bullet pointing your duties and skills, support each claim with statistics, facts, and figures. For example, you could list the revenues raised at a corporate fundraiser you organised, open and click-through rates of donor-targeted mail-shots, or percentages of targets reached or exceeded.

Including specific details such as these wherever possible ensures that you highlight the value you can bring to the position, therefore boosting your application above and beyond the competition.

Make your CV clear and concise

CVs cannot be cluttered for two reasons. Firstly, recruiters don’t have the time or the patience to trawl through compact information. Secondly, if your CV has chunky paragraphs, chances are you’re including some irrelevant detail, which detracts from the outstanding.

As a result, you need to make your CV as clear and easy-to-read as possible. 

Since you’re aiming for a mid-level managerial position, your CV shouldn’t really be any longer than two pages. Your first page should detail your most impressive skills since this is what the recruiter will read first. 

If your CV references skills that aren’t mentioned or are entirely unrelated to the job description, you shouldn’t be afraid to shave them down. After all, they may shade your most impressive abilities. 

If you’re including any positions of employment that are completely unrelated to the vacancy, you can afford to cut them down to the job title, company, and employment dates. If you’re considering the removal of a role entirely, be sure this won’t create an employment gap on your CV, as this may raise a red flag with hiring managers. 

TopCV offers a range of CV-writing services including expertly-written and keyword-optimised CVs, cover letters, and LinkedIn profiles. It is currently offering a free CV review to help you land your perfect fundraising management job.

CLICK HERE FOR A FREE CV REVIEW

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