Charities in London cannot find enough staff because they can’t offer the same levels of salary and career commitment as private-sector firms.

This is the conclusion of a survey by charity staffing agency Keystone Recruitment, which questioned 100 charities in the capital.

Temporary workers in particular are in high demand, especially for junior and senior fundraising roles. However, the private sector can pay significantly more, so few stay in the charity field long term.

“The younger staff find it hard to sustain a career, especially in London,” explained Robin Norris, managing director of Keystone Recruitment. “They might go into charity work out of a sense of social responsibility, but financially it’s not the wisest career move.”

Norris called for agencies to work more closely with their charity clients to provide a more sustainable career for candidates.

Assembling temporary pools of fundraisers from which charities can build a flexible workforce depending on how time-sensitive their campaigns are could be one option, said Norris.

Keystone already offers training in skills such as IT or sales to its temps, so that in between short-term posts they can improve their skills base.

“We need to help charities with their hiring strategies, whether that means temporary or permanent staff,” he added.

Susan Gurton, head of recruitment at ProspectUs, a charity recruitment agency, said that more targeted advertising would help attract more candidates.

“We need to promote more the often excellent benefits in the sector and encourage clients to be open to flexible working and to think creatively about their recruitment needs,” she told Recruiter.