Charity Marketing and Fundraising MSc | PGDip

Key information

Duration: 12 months (PgDip) 24 months (MSc)

Attendance mode: Full-time

Fees: From £7,250 (PgDip) (more information)

Location: Bunhill Row

Start of programme: October 2024

Application deadline: Rolling applications

Entry year: Showing course information for 2024

Master the strategic, tactical and ethical issues driving charity marketing and fundraising

Overview

Charity Marketing and Fundraising MSc | PGDip Who is it for?

You may already be working in the charity sector as a senior marketing and fundraising manager. Or you may wish to transfer relevant skills and knowledge from experience you've gained in other sectors.

The course will support and enhance your core fundraising and marketing management skills. It will equip you to design and deliver efficient, effective and appropriate fundraising and marketing practice in the voluntary sector.

Accreditation

Accredited by the Nonprofit Academic Centers Council (NACC).

Why choose this course?

Opportunity to meet and interact with non-profit leaders during guest lectures and seminars
Unique blend of theoretical and practical learning.

Learn from academics with first-hand experience and ongoing involvement in the third sector
Highly experienced, senior teaching faculty, including both senior academics and experienced practitioners.

Course objectives

Charity marketeers and fundraising managers are increasingly under pressure to deliver in a complex and contemporary environment, within an ethically managed, robust and accountable strategic framework. This course has been designed specifically to meet their needs. You will study how charities are using new and existing marketing ideas to acquire and distribute resources. In doing so, you will look at the practical application of key strategic marketing concepts and planning disciplines to voluntary sector organisations.

Throughout the course you will focus on the application of a strategic marketing approach. Under the umbrella of strategy you will look at and discuss effective brand management, selecting and adopting alternative channels, and the role and types of charity marketing communications.

You will review different approaches to fundraising alongside the important constraints of ethical best practice and contemporary regulation as they apply to charity marketing and fundraising strategy development.

Teaching staff

The teaching staff on this course have many years of practical experience working in industry and are also active researchers in their fields.

Haseeb Shabbir is the Academic Leader for the MSc in Charity Marketing and Fundraising at Bayes Business School. He joined the school in 2023, having held various managerial and leadership roles in Higher Education. As a senior member of the Academy Team at the Chartered Institute of Fundraising, he served as course leader for the CIoF’s Certificate and Diploma programs in fundraising.

Haseeb has coached charity marketers and fundraising professionals from all levels and across regional, national and international organizations. A former Director of the World Marketing Summit, Haseeb also has an extensive portfolio in developing executive training for both voluntary sector and corporate clients.

Accreditation details

The Charities Master's courses were accredited by the Nonprofit Academic Centers Council (NACC) in January 2019 as the only programme in Europe to be included in the first group reviewed. NACC Accreditation fosters third sector academic programmes worldwide.

Course content

The MSc course is taught on a part-time basis over a period of two years. Students initially enrol on the Postgraduate Diploma with the specialist area of their choice, and confirm their intention to complete the MSc at the end of the first year.
As a student you will:

Develop your understanding of the strategic application of the marketing paradigm in the voluntary sector
Explore the practical application of key strategic marketing concepts and tools in different voluntary sector contexts
Understand how to design, implement and evaluate alternative contemporary fundraising strategies and techniques
Build relevant marketing and fundraising management and leadership skills and analytical capabilities
Gain access to a strong and vibrant learning community and network within the Centre and the sector
Grow your confidence and enhance your career in the sector.

Course structure

Programme content is subject to change. We regularly review our module offering and amend to keep up to date and relevant.

Induction weeks

The Charities programme courses starting in October will have a final session for the in-person registration followed by an Induction Programme.

Download course specification:

Charity Marketing and Fundraising MSc | PGDip [PDF]

Assessment methods

The Postgraduate Diploma consists of five core modules that all students take and are common to all the five charity postgraduate courses. These core modules provide the essential underpinning of management skills for the specialist courses. Upon successful completion of the diploma you can continue to the MSc Programme.

The MSc requires completion of the Research Methods for Managers module. This is followed by either: a further six months of personal, supervised research and the presentation of a 15,000-word research-based dissertation. Or alternatively, you can opt to take a taught Masters which allows you to choose specialist modules from one of the other charities programmes.

Assessment methods

Course work

Term dates

Term dates October 2024 intake

Induction
03 October 2024

Learning and Understanding the Voluntary Sector
04 - 05 October 2024

Strategy, Diversity and Governance
08 - 09 November 2024; 06 - 07 December 2024

Marketing and Fundraising
10 - 11 January 2025

People Management in the Voluntary Sector
07- 08 February 2025

Charity Accounting and Finance
07- 08 March 2025; 04 - 05 April 2025

Fundraising

16 - 17 May 2025; 06 June 2025

Strategic Charity Marketing

07 June 2025; 18 - 19 July 2025

Fieldwork exercise to be completed by early August 2025

Course Review Day

05 September 2025

Term dates for students progressing from the Postgraduate Diploma Intake in 2024

Research Methods for Managers

23 - 24 January 2026

Dissertation or Taught Masters Option
completion by mid-September 2026

Senior Lecturer Justin Davis-Smith giving a lecture on strategy and governance to postgraduate students in a classroom.

Fees & funding

UK/Home/International fee

October 2024 entry

£7,250

PgDip

+ £4,200

An additional fee to convert to the Master’s degree*

Tuition fees are subject to annual change.

The fee for the Postgraduate Diploma is £7,250 for 2024/25 entry. A deposit of £400 is payable on acceptance of a place. For self-paying students, the balance is payable in two instalments, the first during the registration process September and the second at the end of January.

*The fee for those converting the Diploma to MSc is a further £4,200 for 2024/25 entry and is payable in one instalment at the beginning of the second year. The conversion fee for the following year of entry will be subject to an annual inflationary increase

Tuition fee increases

Where applicable, tuition fees for Bayes' programmes will be subject to inflationary increases in each year of study. Our policy for these increases is set out in our terms and conditions of study.

Scholarships & bursaries

Students sponsored by their employer will need to complete a form. We also recommend looking at the government PG loan for funding.

Scholarships

Charity Marketing and Fundraising students may be eligible for a scholarship from the Eastside Primetimers Foundation, application for this scholarship will open shortly.

View our scholarships and funding

Other funding opportunities

You may wish to look at the PG Loan option for funding.

View other funding options

Sponsorship

Students on the course who are sponsored by their employer will need to complete a sponsorship form as part of the application process. This can be completed for the Postgraduate Diploma or the MSc. An invoice for the full fees for the academic year will be sent to the employer in October for the Postgraduate Diploma. If the employer is a charity, they can request payment in two instalments by contacting the person named on the invoice. This arrangement allows the charity to spread the fees across two financial years.

View our sponsorship guidance

Careers

Students are selected on their professional experience, and generally continue working in their full –time role whilst undertaking this course.

"A Business School (formerly Cass) charity master's degree is without a doubt a gold standard qualification that adds professional credibility."

- Johnathan Sandall

"The Charity Marketing and Fundraising course gave me some much needed intellectual rigour and helped develop a much more analytical and reflective approach. This has been invaluable in my new job; in fact, I wouldn't have got this job without this more strategic thinking."

- Zoe Marlow, Head Education and Business Development (UK and Ireland), Sannam S4

"I specialise in fundraising but wanted a wider understanding of the third sector as a whole, in order to aid my development and to give me a better grounding as a senior manager in my organisation. The course was challenging but manageable when working full time, and the lecturers and guest speakers were all excellent."

- Stephanie Lawless, Community Fundraising Manager, Dogs for Good

"The course covered a fantastic breadth of topics in great detail, merging theory with practical real world solutions, and prepares students to take on the challenges currently facing the voluntary sector. Completing this course provided me with the skills, knowledge and confidence to apply for and secure a more senior role in a new organisation."

- Marco Greco, Fundraising Manager, Coram Fields

"I really enjoyed my two years at the Business School (formerly Cass) and the course developed my confidence, honed my strategic thinking and gave me a new peer network. This helped me progress into my current role"

- Melanie Aram, Head of Major Gifts & Appeals, National Portrait Gallery

Entry requirements

All students will be highly motivated graduate-level people who bring a wide range of professional competencies, skills and experience from a wide range of backgrounds. Gender is evenly balanced across all the courses and there are no age barriers.

In general we ask for a good first degree, normally an upper second-class honours degree from a British University or an equivalent qualification from a leading overseas institution; and three or more year’s relevant experience at a senior level. In exceptional cases we will also accept those without a degree but with significant work experience.

English language requirements

In order to participate fully in the collaborative learning process all students who have not previously studied in English must sit an academic IELTS or TOEFL iBT exam.

The minimum required academic IELTS level is an average of 7.0 with a minimum of 6.5 in writing and no less than 6.0 in any other section.

We require a well-balanced overall score of at least 100 and no less than 25 in the Writing section in the TOEFL iBT test or the TOEFL iBT Home Edition test.

If you are not a native English speaker but have been working in the UK for the last three years it is unlikely you will need to take the test.