Overall job satisfaction

Most voluntary sector employees have a very strong sense of purpose and feel that they are doing meaningful work, and fundraisers are no exception.

84% of fundraisers feel that they are doing useful work for society, far higher than what we see in the wider working population (only 57% of respondents to the CIPD Working Lives Scotland 2025 agree that they are doing useful work for society):

“The projects I have worked on have made a real difference to the local community.”
“Making a difference to local communities, regions, the country and big systems indirectly through my role and empowering service delivery colleagues”

• Half of fundraising respondents (54%) are fairly or very satisfied with their jobs.
• However, fundraising respondents overall report lower job satisfaction than other respondents.
• Around 34% were dissatisfied with their job, compared with 23% of respondents in other roles.

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Factors influencing job satisfaction

Job satisfaction is shaped by a range of factors, such as fulfilment, organisational support, workload, pay and job security.

• Contrary to expectations, most fundraisers were less likely to report increasing workload than other staff and were slightly less likely to say they felt under pressure at work.
• Overall stress levels among fundraising staff were similar to the wider workforce, and they were less likely than others to have taken time off due to work-related stress.
• Fundraisers were more positive about pay than other respondents. They were more likely to agree that they are paid fairly and that their pay covers their basic needs.
• However, survey respondents may not reflect the experience of fundraisers in general. Many of the fundraisers who responded to the survey were experienced and senior-level staff on permanent who had been in their role for 3+ years.
• Despite many respondents having relatively secure employment arrangements, fundraisers showed slightly lower confidence in the long-term stability of their job and pay and were somewhat less optimistic about the future.
• Several of the largest differences between fundraisers and other respondents related to line management support. Fundraisers were less likely to strongly agree that their manager supports their development, helps them perform well, treats them fairly, or is supportive when problems arise.

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A dissatisfied subgroup

Within the fundraising workforce there is evidence of a distinct subgroup experiencing a much less positive experience of work.

• Fundraisers who were dissatisfied with their job were far more likely to be considering leaving. Around 69% said they were likely to quit within the next 12 months, compared with 17% of satisfied fundraisers.
• Dissatisfied fundraisers were substantially more likely to experience frequent stress. More than half (54%) experienced high levels of stress several times a week or more, compared with just 8% of satisfied fundraisers.
• Fundraisers experiencing high stress were also more likely to be considering leaving, with 56% saying they were likely to quit, compared with 31% of those experiencing stress less frequently

Best aspects of working in the third sector

Fundraisers share very similar motivations to other paid staff in the voluntary sector, particularly a desire to make a difference.

• Around seven in ten fundraisers (71%) identified making a real difference to people and communities as one of the best things about working in the sector, almost identical to other paid staff (70%).

However, fundraisers were somewhat more likely than other paid staff to value:

• Independence and autonomy (44% vs 40%).
• The ability to innovate and be creative (29% vs 26%).
• The ethos of the sector (31% vs 28%).

They were less likely to identify:

• The people or clients they support as a key source of job satisfaction (27% vs 47%).
• Their colleagues and team as one of the best aspects of working in the sector (33% vs 42%) - this possibly reflects that many fundraisers work alone or very independently, rather than necessarily reflecting poor relationships within teams. (see also the higher value fundraisers place on independence, autonomy and innovation).

Overall, the findings suggest that fundraisers are particularly motivated by the wider mission, values and strategic impact of their work, as well as the autonomy and creativity their roles can provide.

Key challenges

Concerns about low pay, lack of pay parity with other sectors, poor careers progression opportunities and challenging or stressful work were key negative aspects for fundraisers, and were all reported at broadly similar levels by fundraisers and other paid staff.

The areas where fundraisers do stand out relate primarily to management and performance expectations. The most striking finding was the scale of concern about unrealistic targets set by management, which was selected by one-third of fundraisers and was four times more common than among staff in other roles:

• Unrealistic targets set by management (33% vs 12%).

Fundraisers were also more likely to identify:

• Poor management and leadership (36% vs 26%).

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• One in three sector staff cite challenging and stressful work as a concern.

While the rate of stress amongst fundraisers is similar to that of other sectors staff, qualitative feedback suggests that fundraisers' stress is often driven by a combination of high fundraising expectations, compounded by the difficult current fundraising and funding environment:

“Working as a fundraiser is stressful as a lot of people are depending on me.”

“Ever increasing fundraising targets, little recognition of what's been achieved already”

"The pressure to succeed”
“Current job - very good but weight of responsibility: bringing money in when funds so competitive. Previous job - Unrealistic expectations/workload, chaotic CEO: monumental stress”
“The pressure of funding cuts is causing me stress”
“A lingering feeling of unease around job security as I see more and more redundancies and similar organisations impacted by funding”

Taken together, these findings suggest that while fundraisers are highly motivated by the impact and purpose of their work, they are more likely to feel constrained by performance expectations.

Fundraisers’ lower job satisfaction is less likely to be driven by workload, funding insecurity or employment conditions (although these are an issue for many), and more likely to be associated with a perceived lack of management support, and the challenge of working towards overly ambitious fundraising targets.

The fundraising workforce also appears somewhat polarised. Many fundraising staff report positive experiences, including fair pay, permanent contracts and manageable workloads. However, a smaller but significant group report low job satisfaction, low pay, low job security, high stress and intentions to leave.