Fundraising Recruitment has launched an entry-level training programme and qualification for fundraisers.

The first 40 students of the Foundation in Fundraising Certificate, delivered by the Fundraising Academy will take 15 modules covering every aspect of fundraising.

Despite original plans to charge students a £600 ‘golden handcuff’ which would be refunded if Fundraising Recruitment could not find them a job, the fees have been scrapped and students will not pay anything to attend the course, apart from the £250 costs of the week-long summer school.

Founder and managing director Rupert Tappin says: “We keep finding that a significant number of charities experience difficulty in recruiting suitably experienced or qualified people to take up fundraising positions at the entry-level.

“As the sector becomes increasingly professional, so the skills that an individual must possess before being considered even for interview become broader. If fundraising is to become more professionalised, then there has to be a more professional route into the sector.”

The Foundation in Fundraising Certificate consists of 15 weekly modules covering corporate, statutory and trust fundraising, strategy skills, customer service and database and IT skills. Each module is being taught by a leading fundraising practitioner from charities such as Barnardo’s, the British Red Cross and Volunteer Reading Help.