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Charity officer : Job description and activities

Job description

A charity officer is someone who works for, or is a trustee of, a charitable organisation. This title can, therefore, refer to personnel in a number of different roles within a charity. Roles vary considerably depending upon the size, aim, and type of organisation. In larger organisations, the role may focus on a specific area, such as project management, business development, finance, marketing, PR, or strategy, whilst in smaller charities the charity officer may undertake multiple tasks. Typical tasks range from applying for grants to managing volunteers to providing advice and information.

Charity officers are also referred to as charity administrators, community liaison officers or project development officers.

Typical work activities

Typical work activities vary according to the organisation and the individual role. For example, a charity officer working for a global charity will have a very different experience from a charity officer working for a small, local charity. A small charity will have fewer resources, both in terms of funding and personnel, than a large-scale organisation and will often need employees to carry out a number of different functions within a small team.

Despite the diversity in roles, however, there are typical tasks that a charity officer will undertake, some of which include:

• liaising with external agencies, including voluntary sector organisations, the media, local authorities, business contacts, trustees, and other stakeholders or clients;
• public relations (PR) activities to raise the profile of the organisation and/or campaign;
• administrative and financial tasks such as making applications for grants and other sources of funding, managing budgets, gathering data, preparing reports, database management and undertaking general clerical and administrative work to meet the needs of the organisation;
• developing and carrying out marketing activities;
• creating and organising fundraising initiatives and events as well as designing and preparing fundraising materials such as leaflets and flyers; 
• approaching potential donors and maintaining donor lists.

AGCAS

Written by Mary Goudge, Imperial College London

Last updated:

April 2009

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