Liz Hughes
CEO, Charities Institute Ireland
There are over 10,000 registered charities in Ireland – ranging from small community groups, to organisations with an international footprint.
The Charity sector directly employs 190,000 people in positions which are just as varied as the private sector. Currently the Charities Institute Ireland jobs-desk features a wide variety of vacancies across areas like human resources, CRM management, finance, communications, fundraising and social work.
Many charities rely heavily on fundraising and the demand for skills and expertise in this area is on the increase. CII has certainly seen an increase in the demand for their specialist qualifications in fundraising.
Generation Z actively seek a career that is more purpose-driven which is certainly good news for the charity sector.
Specialist skills in charity careers
Having a recognised qualification is a significant advantage for those who wish to pursue a fundraising career, as does great relationship-management and innovative business development skills.
The establishment of the Charity Regulator is certainly helping the sector become more transparent and accountable which in turn brings new job opportunities in areas like governance.
Making charity jobs more appealing
In order for the sector to continue to provide impactful services and innovative solutions to social problems it needs to be attractive to talented professionals and visionaries into the future. This is challenging for the sector given that we are at almost full employment.
Recent reports from Deloitte, and others, indicate that Generation Z actively seek a career that is more purpose-driven which is certainly good news for the charity sector. The new generation of employees want to make a positive impact with their work and where better to enable employees to fulfil their career potential while making a lasting contribution to society than the charity sector.