Convention is in-person only this year, despite calls for a hybrid model. What was the thinking behind that decision?

Katie Docherty: We are not the only charity or business looking to explore new methods, and we have spoken to many other organisations about what they are doing regarding in-person and virtual events. We’ve explored the hybrid model but we felt that as a charity we have a duty to deliver the best experience we can, and the best experience we can deliver just now is to do an in-person event and an online Fundraising Festival at a later date.

We know that many members want to come to in-person events, but we also know some members who would prefer to do it online. So we want to give members a choice, so we are doing both. It doesn’t mean we won’t do it differently in the future. We are all learning and we are all experimenting. This will be the first time that the Chartered Institute has delivered an in-person Convention and an online event in the same year.