The Institute of Fundraising’s annual income has increased by 9 per cent in the last 12 months to over £5.8m, according to the organisation’s chief executive.
As part of its Annual General Meeting held at the IoF Convention in London yesterday, Peter Lewis, chief executive of the IoF, told members that the organisation’s income up until the year ending 31 March 2018 had increased to £5.88m, up from £5.37m in 2017.
The IoF’s expenditure also increased over the last financial year, up to £5.81m from £5.33m in 2017. This meant that in the year up to 31 March 2018, the IoF had a net surplus of £73,230.
Lewis also said that the IoF now has “more than 6,000” individual members, 609 organisational members and 110 corporate members. Remember a Charity, the IoF’s long-term legacies project, has also seen its membership increase to over 200.
IoF ‘back in dialogue’ over chartered status
Lewis also said that the IoF is now “back in dialogue with the Privy Council” about the issue of chartered status. The IoF had put conversations with the Privy Council on hold in 2015, following the media storms around fundraising which begun with the death of Olive Cooke in May of that year.
Lewis said: “We’re now talking to the Privy Council again in relation to achieving chartered status, having been put on hold in 2015. Hopefully over the course of the next year we will have some news that we can share about what the next steps are to becoming a chartered body.
“That recognition that we’d get as a professional body, that recognition of proper professional status that we could pass on to our members, shows that we’re in a different public policy space now to the one that we were in three years ago.”
Lewis also announced at the AGM the election of three new trustees to the IoF’s board, those being: Carol Akiwumi, Sarah Bissell and Emma-Louise Singh.
100 per cent turnover in financial department
In responding to a major concern from one of the IoF’s members, Lewis said that the membership body had experienced a “100 per cent staff turnover rate in its financial department” over the last year.
Lewis was asked why the IoF wasn’t “properly resourcing its finance team to support and enable [the IoF’s regional] groups to operate more efficiently?”
He said: “We’ve had a 100 per cent turnover in our finance team this year, which is not something that we wanted. What we’ve done though is upgraded it, put in a new finance director and a new team that I firmly believe will turn things around.
“We know we haven’t been good enough this year with the groups, and I put my hand up. That’s my responsibility. But it’s also my responsibility to make things better moving forward.
“I think part of the investment in the infrastructure is absolutely bringing in a system that not only gives us the financial controls we need, but also brings in systems that allow you as the groups around the UK to operate in a 21st Century manner and we know that isn’t the case at the moment.”
Amanda Bringans, chair of the IoF, said: “On a personal note, I’ve been very encouraged by the new additions to our finance team and the level of rigour and attention of detail that is going into looking at that work.”
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