The Chartered Institute of Fundraising (CIoF) is open to working once more with sponsors which it had previously “paused” relationships with, due to concerns over their links to US gun lobbyists.
In June, CIoF announced that it would temporarily cease some major sponsorship deals of its flagship Fundraising Convention over “business relationships that some companies have through their group structures in the US with the National Rifle Association (NRA)”.
It took the decision after TechCrunch reported that the NRA paid Blackbaud, which owns donations site JustGiving and provides software services to hundreds of UK charities, around $85,000 a year.
San Francisco-based outlet SF Gate also reported that thousands of employees of software firm Salesforce had written to its co-chief executives, Marc Benioff and Bret Taylor, urging them to cut ties with the NRA, a customer of the company.
At the time, CIoF said sponsorship of the Fundraising Convention “has been paused to give us time to review the situation in detail”.
The membership body has held talks with the sponsors since the event and has decided to resume potential relationships with them.
“Following Fundraising Convention in July we have had the opportunity to have conversations with the companies involved,” said a CIoF spokesperson.
“Having reviewed the information that they shared with us, and also following discussions with members, we're satisfied that they are valuable and responsible partners to the sector and would be happy to work with them on future partnerships and events.”
JustGiving declined to comment. Salesforce has not responded to a request from Civil Society News.
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