One in five charity roles currently being recruited sits in the philanthropy space. If you're managing a team with strong major gift fundraisers right now, the competition for that talent is fiercer than it looks. That's just one of the key insights that THINK's Executive Director, Gary Kernahan, reveals in this fascinating look at third sector recruitment today.

Regular hosts Matt Smith and Jo McGuinness are joined by Gary, who leads the interim and recruitment functions at THINK and boasts nearly 20 years of fundraising experience inside charities, before he moved into executive recruitment.

This episode gets into the real state of charity recruitment in 2026: why the pendulum has shifted back towards a recruiter's market in some specialisms while shortages persist in others, what ethical recruitment actually requires in practice rather than in principle, and how AI is reshaping the process for job hunters and hiring managers in very different ways. The central question running through the conversation is whether charities are genuinely rethinking how they recruit, or simply reaching for the same playbook under increasing pressure.

In this episode:

• Why community fundraising has a pipeline problem that stems directly from pandemic-era hiring decisions, and what that means for organisations recruiting into those roles today. The skills gap is structural, not temporary.
• What ethical recruitment looks like in practice, from sharing interview questions in advance and publishing full process timelines, to giving candidates meaningful, scored feedback rather than a vague "someone was better suited."
• How AI is creating a volume and homogeneity problem for hiring managers, with CVs that increasingly mirror job descriptions, experienced candidates being screened out, and the very real risk that automated tools simply amplify existing bias.
• The case for interim leadership during periods of change or vacancy, and why the best interims bring something a permanent hire rarely can: no vested interest, senior experience, and no instinct to build empires.
• Why onboarding is the neglected second half of recruitment. THINK's own research found hiring managers score their induction processes far higher than the candidates going through them, with new starters rating their experience just 5.5 out of 10.

Links & Resources

• THINK — our website: https://thinkcs.org/
• THINK Recruitment: https://thinkcs.org/services/recruitment/

Be a part of the show

We really want to hear what you think of the show and what you'd like us to cover. So if you have thoughts on this episode or ideas for future topics you'd like us to cover, here's how to get in touch...

• Use the contact form HERE - https://somethingtothinkabout.transistor.fm/get-in-touch
• Send us a voice message HERE - https://www.speakpipe.com/SomethingToTHINKAbout

Produced by The Good Studio - thegoodstudio.co.uk

88% of transformational change projects fail, not because the strategy is wrong, but because the people delivering it are running on empty. In episode two, hosts Matt Smith and Jo McGuinness sit down with Janine Chandler, founder of Jump In Puddles, a certified B Corp and social purpose consultancy that uses the power of play, and Lego, to help organisations in the social impact sector create real, lasting breakthroughs.

Janine brings 30 years of experience in innovation and brand marketing and a distinctive, deeply human approach to one of the sector's most pressing challenges: what does it actually take to help people be change fit, not just change managed?

In this episode:

• Why 88% of transformational projects fail and why it's a people problem, not a strategy problem
• The difference between a team that's energised by purpose and one that's just going through the motions
• How Lego Serious Play works in practice and why it unlocks things that PowerPoint simply can't
• The five things every organisation needs in place for change to succeed
• What thriving actually looks like
• How to lead a team through redundancy

Links & Resources

• Jump In Puddles: https://jumpinpuddles.co.uk/
• Follow Janine on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janinechandler/
• Unicef UK CEO Philip Goodwin's LinkedIn post on Lego Serious Play strategy: HERE
• Dorothy House Hospice Care: https://www.dorothyhouse.org.uk/
• THINK — our website: https://thinkcs.org/

Be a part of the show

We really want to hear what you think of the show and what you'd like us to cover. So if you have thoughts on this episode or ideas for future topics you'd like us to cover, here's how to get in touch...

• Use the contact form HERE - https://somethingtothinkabout.transistor.fm/get-in-touch
• Send us a voice message HERE - https://www.speakpipe.com/SomethingToTHINKAbout

Produced by The Good Studio - thegoodstudio.co.uk

Change is easy to announce and hard to do well. In our very first episode, hosts Matt Smith and Joe McGuinness sit down with Kate Collins – founder of Kate Collins Consultancy and former Chief Executive and Director of Fundraising at Teenage Cancer Trust – for an honest, insightful conversation about what it really takes to lead people through change.

After 16 years at TCT, Kate brings a rare blend of hard-won experience, radical honesty, and genuine warmth to one of the most searched-for yet least-talked-about topics in leadership: how to lead people through change – especially when they really don't want to go.

In this episode:

• The "hat, haircut and tattoo" framework – and why a decision that feels minor to you might feel life-changing to someone else
• Why resistance to change is healthy, and when the absence of it should worry you
• The crucial difference between transparency and full disclosure
• Why leading with compassion requires clarity – not softening the message
• The emotional cost of leadership, and why resilience and endurance are not the same thing
• Kate's two things to leave you with: change can't be managed, only navigated – and friction is feedback

Links & Resources

• Kate Collins Consulting: https://katecollins.org/
• Follow Kate on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/katecollinsuk/
• THINK - our webiste - https://thinkcs.org/

Be a part of the show

We really want to hear what you think of the show and what you'd like us to cover. So if you have thoughts on this episode or ideas for future topics you'd like us to cover, here's how to get in touch...

• Use the contact form HERE - https://somethingtothinkabout.transistor.fm/get-in-touch
• Send us a voice message HERE - https://www.speakpipe.com/SomethingToTHINKAbout

Produced by The Good Studio - thegoodstudio.co.uk