3 top tips for nailing your next fundraising interview

You just got the call. Your potential new employer loved your application and wants to meet you. Now there’s just one thing standing between you and your dream fundraising job; the interview. As you hang up the phone, you’re ecstatic, but then you start thinking about the interview and promptly break into a cold sweat.

Sound familiar? You’re not alone. 93% of people experience pre-interview anxiety, according to a recent survey. And it’s no surprise. Sitting opposite a bunch of strangers as they scrutinise your professional life and fire questions at you can be extremely unnerving.

However, approached in the right spirit, interviews can be rewarding and enjoyable. Think about it - how often do you get to wax lyrical about how wonderful you are?

With this in mind, here are 3 ways to supercharge your interview skills and present yourself as an irresistible candidate.

1. Swot up on the charity

Like most things in life, preparation is key. The more you know about the charity, the better.

Before the interview:

• Familiarise yourself with the charity’s annual reports. Look at their overall income and the breakdown of it. What’s their fundraising target? Also, look at trends in donor retention over the past few years. Has it remained consistent?

• Identify the organisation's key players. Who’s the CEO? And the chair?

• Look at their website and social media accounts to get a sense of who they are and how they present themselves.

• Google the charity and look for nuggets of information you can bring up as talking points in the interview. Have they hosted an event recently? Have they won any awards? While you’re at it, do some snooping on your interviewer/s on LinkedIn. If you don’t know their names, ask. Look for anything you can use to make a connection. If you have something in common with them, be sure to mention it. It could earn you some brownie points!

2. Prepare yourself

So, you’ve swotted up and know the charity inside out. The next step is to figure out how you’re going to sell yourself. The last thing you want is dead air, awkward mumbling, and sweaty palms while you scramble to think of answers to their questions.

Be sure to study the job description and person specifications. These are your cheat sheets - your handy list of everything the charity is looking for.

Be ready to prove you’re a good fit by having a list of real-life examples to back up each of the competencies/requirements. Practice saying them out loud so they become second nature to recount.

It’s worth noting here that very few candidates meet 100% of the competencies, but that’s okay. You can get around it by working out where you’re lacking experience and finding ways to compensate. Think about times when you got to practice the skills missing from your resume. Have you had to use any of them in an internship, voluntary work or course?

These are all places you can look to find skills you never knew you had. 

Uncomfortable questions

Most of us have a habit of avoiding uncomfortable questions. But you can’t brush an interview under the rug. If there’s a question you know you hate being asked, tackle it head-on.

The most commonly asked ‘tricky’ interview question is 'what’s your biggest weakness?’Everyone dreads this one, but the key is to avoid cliches like “I’m a perfectionist”, or “I work too hard”.Think about it from a different angle. Are there areas where you’ve seen improvement? For example; perhaps in the past, self-confidence issues have made you reluctant to accept criticism. Explain how you overcame it and add that you now embrace constructive feedback, which in turn has helped you improve your skills as a fundraiser.

If you take some time to plan, answers to even the most uncomfortable questions will roll off your tongue.

3. Quiz your interviewer

Ok, that’s enough about you. Now it’s their turn to get grilled. Interviews are a two-way street, so it’s time to figure out if this is the right road for you.

Coming prepared with questions is always a good idea. Just don’t jump the gun and start asking about holidays and bonuses. You want to get a better understanding of how they do things.

A few well-informed questions will show them you mean business.

Think about what matters to you. What’s the working culture like? Are there opportunities for training and progression? Do you want to know more about the team you’d be working in? What are the charity’s funding priorities?

Final Word

So there you have it, 3 top tips to take you a step closer to your next fundraising job. Remember every interview is an opportunity to improve your skillset so be professional, friendly, and be yourself.

If you want to discuss any of our roles, or get some more advice about nailing your dream fundraising job, give us a call on 020 3750 3111.