Sales support assistant to fundraising assistant
A sales support assistant already meets 34% of what the fundraising assistant role asks for. The move turns on 3 required skills not yet in the profile.
55.3/ 100
1 How much of what a fundraising assistant is expected to do is already part of a sales support assistant’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the fundraising assistant role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A fundraising assistant role treats 4 of its required skills as things a sales support assistant already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- manage accounts
- perform business research
- perform clerical duties
- perform office routine activities
What stands in the way is 3 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 4 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A fundraising assistant role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a sales support assistant background worth leading with.
- already held perform business research information skills
- already held perform office routine activities management skills
- already held perform clerical duties management skills
- already held manage accounts management skills
All 4 carried skills, including the 4 the fundraising assistant role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 17 missing skills fall into 5 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn establish contact with potential donors required
- still to learn perform fundraising activities required
- still to learn support managers required
- optional, not held deliver a sales pitch optional
- optional, not held develop professional network optional
- optional, not held develop promotional tools optional
- optional, not held brief volunteers optional
- optional, not held coordinate events optional
- optional, not held manage budgets optional
- optional, not held manage consumables stock optional
- optional, not held manage the handling of promotional materials optional
- optional, not held maintain event records optional
- optional, not held monitor charity's budget optional
- optional, not held maintain financial records optional
- optional, not held manage donor database optional
- optional, not held funding methods optional
- optional, not held manage website optional
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a fundraising assistant role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 establish contact with potential donors practise this
- 02 perform fundraising activities practise this
- 03 support managers practise this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 4 skills that carry over
- already held manage accounts skill
- already held perform business research skill
- already held perform clerical duties skill
- already held perform office routine activities skill
14 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held deliver a sales pitch optional
- optional, not held maintain event records optional
- optional, not held monitor charity's budget optional
- optional, not held brief volunteers optional
- optional, not held coordinate events optional
- optional, not held develop professional network optional
- optional, not held develop promotional tools optional
- optional, not held funding methods optional
- optional, not held maintain financial records optional
- optional, not held manage budgets optional
- optional, not held manage consumables stock optional
- optional, not held manage donor database optional
- optional, not held manage the handling of promotional materials optional
- optional, not held manage website optional
19 held skills the fundraising assistant role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role analyse customer service surveys skill
- not needed by the target role bookkeeping regulations knowledge
- not needed by the target role carry out sales analysis skill
- not needed by the target role check accounting records skill
- not needed by the target role customer service knowledge
- not needed by the target role draw up marketing and sales plan skill
- not needed by the target role electronic business knowledge
- not needed by the target role forecast sales over periods of time skill
- not needed by the target role handle mail skill
- not needed by the target role implement sales strategies skill
- not needed by the target role issue sales invoices skill
- not needed by the target role keep records on sales skill
- not needed by the target role order supplies skill
- not needed by the target role prepare sales checks skill
- not needed by the target role process refunds skill
- not needed by the target role produce sales reports skill
- not needed by the target role sales activities knowledge
- not needed by the target role supervise sales activities skill
- not needed by the target role use sales forecasting softwares skill
1 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- optional, not held funding methods optional
Other moves recorded from sales support assistant
Common questions about this move
Can a sales support assistant become a fundraising assistant?
Yes, and it is a substantial move. A sales support assistant already covers 34% of what a fundraising assistant is expected to do: 4 skills carry over, 4 of which the fundraising assistant role treats as required.
What skills does a sales support assistant need to become a fundraising assistant?
3 required skills are missing, plus 14 optional ones. They fall into 5 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by communication, collaboration and creativity. The single most important is establish contact with potential donors.
How hard is the move from sales support assistant to fundraising assistant?
Its learning distance is 55.3 out of 100, which is the substantial band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.