• Most recent donation: Young Minds, a high impact charity Paul has been working closely with and can highly recommend having seen it from the inside out. Also, the need to support young people with their mental health is higher than it has ever been.
• Why its important to give to high impact charities even when they’re fundraising is going really well – see Stanford Social Innovation Review article by Kevin Starr, Head of Mulago Foundation saying “do they still need our money? is the wrong question. The right question is this: Can they still create a lot of impact with our money?”
• From charity shop manager to fundraiser to recruiter.
• Recommendation for learning and development – ask for help/advice, from peers e.g. similar roles in other charities or people outside the sector with the skills and knowledge you’re interested in.
• The absolutely unique thing about working for a charity is being able to access 1-2-1 advice from people in the commercial sector – tips on how to do it.
• Be mindful of people’s time and how best to approach them – the busiest people don’t read long e-mails.
• The current recruitment challenge for the charity sector specifically and the reasons for it.
• Salaries, job adverts, job descriptions, person specifications, application process – charities need to sell the role and organisation to the candidate.
• The problem with exclusionary criteria.
• The way people search for jobs now is different.
• The problem with benchmarking salaries by ads on CharityJob.
• Working in the sector doesn’t have the same draw it once did and there are more careers that offer ways to have a social impact.
• As a sector we need to do a better job of showing this is a desirable career path – a campaign for the national infrastructure organisations perhaps?
• Need to increase the number of people considering a career in the sector and the sector needs a huge push for greater diversity – in staff teams and boards.
• How charities can improve their recruitment and retention processes and culture.
• Get more applicants for your role, ensure you attract the best people for the role and set processes that give you the best chance of actually employing them.
• The best candidates will get multiple offers so don’t delay offering them the role.
• The importance of flexibility.
• When people are working remotely they are viewed purely on their outputs and outcomes.
• The lack of diversity at board level and the potential impact of this on implementing change in organisations.
• Whatever level you work at there is a charity out there that will welcome you as a trustee.
• “Believe in retention” – don’t just believe that no one will stay for more than two years. It is not inevitable.
• What to do to retain good staff – reward them, help them develop, don’t wait until they say they want to leave. Be open to increasing salaries – it often costs less than recruiting a replacement.
• “Supporter retention skills could be used for retaining staff but very often charities are terrible at telling their staff what difference they are making.”
• Why are there no charity staff alumni schemes?
• Breaking down silos.
• Career advice – make your own plan and be proactive about working towards it, including networking and mentoring within your organisation, across the sector and beyond.

You can find Paul on Twitter or Linkedin. The Recruit and Retain website is not quite ready yet (www.recruitandretain.co.uk will be live soon) but you can e-mail Paul at paul@recruitandretain.co.uk.