Charity and development work: Typical employers

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Big players

Charities Direct has an extensive directory of over 10,000 charities where it is possible to search for the top 500 charities according to income, expenditure and funds.

Some of the top 25 charities according to income include, the British Council, Cancer Research UK, National Trust, Oxfam, British Red Cross, Barnardo’s and Royal National Lifeboat Institution.

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Charities are also classified into different sections according to how they spend their funds. The different areas include:

• business and professional, e.g. Royal Pharmaceutical Society;
• civil rights, citizenship and law and order; e.g. Citizens Advice;
• conservation and protection, e.g. Royal Society for the Prevention of Birds (RSPB);
• culture sport and recreation, e.g. Arts Council;
• education, training and research, e.g. Gatsby Charitable Foundation;
• health and medical, e.g. Royal Mencap Society;
• housing and community affairs, e.g. Shelter;
• international activities, e.g. Disasters Emergency Committee;
• philanthropic intermediation, e.g. Comic Relief;
• religion, e.g. Salvation Army;
• social services and relief, e.g. Church Commissioners for England.

Small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)

SMEs are organisations with less than 250 employees and an annual turnover of around £26million. Working for a smaller charity can be rewarding as it provides the opportunity to experience all aspects of charity work.

SMEs are unlikely to use the testing and assessment techniques of larger companies, or follow lengthy recruitment procedures. SMEs are more likely to advertise their vacancies through the local press, university careers service bulletins, local graduate vacancy listings, jobcentres, and word of mouth, rather than rely on their reputation and a presence at graduate recruitment fairs.

Your university careers service should have listings of jobs with small firms; see also Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.

Self-employment

Charities are set up by individuals with an entrepreneurial vision who see a need in society and wish to do something about it. For example, ‘Recycling Education, Allowing Development’ (Read International) was set up by a student at university to provide educational books to children in Tanzania. He is now a director of his own successful charity.

It is possible to work as a consultant in this sector, often for infrastructure organisations. Having significant experience and knowledge plus a network of contacts will be essential.

Opportunities exist for consultants to work in a variety of different fields including fundraising, strategic review and finance.

Find out more about self-employment.