The Chartered Institute of Fundraising (CIoF) will offer free organisational membership to small charities from next year as part of a new strategy.
CIoF will allow charities with voluntary income of less than £50,000 a year to gain free organisational membership as part of its aim to be “more reflective, accessible, and representative of the fundraising that happens across the UK”.
The umbrella body will also establish a “championing fundraising committee”, which will be open to applications from CIoF members, report to its board, and “advise and steer our work to champion you and your profession”.
It also plans to promote its equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) pledge, with oversight from its EDI Committee, over the next three years, “so that our organisational members are equipped with the ideas and practical resources to build more inclusive teams that represent the communities we serve”.
The membership body states that its three-year strategy, which is set to start in January 2023, was informed through conversations, engagement, and discussion with hundreds of its members.
Prioritise being ‘honest, transparent, and accountable’
Katie Docherty, chief executive of the CIoF, said in a blog: “Our new strategy is due to formally take effect in January 2023, but of course work has already started and is underway in so many areas.”
It is putting on its first online Fundraising Festival this December and also partnering with the Directory of Social Change to source funding for a new research project exploring the extent and types of sexual harassment experienced by fundraisers.
Some of the strategies priorities include to champion the fundraising profession and pledging to support fundraisers “with the tools, learning, networking, and events they want so they can improve, achieve and thrive”.
CIoF will also “advocate for and advance” equity, diversity, and inclusion across the sector, as a membership organisation, and as an employer. It also has a pledge to its members, which includes being “honest, transparent, and accountable”.
The strategy reads: “We will be straightforward and clear about the decisions we make and their impact, explaining our rationale and objectives, seeking feedback and views from you throughout the delivery of this strategy.”
It adds that its work and priorities will be guided through consultation and engagement with members.
“We will proactively engage our full membership and the wider fundraising community to ensure our work represents all fundraising professionals across the UK and is delivered in an inclusive way for all,” reads the strategy.
CIoF’s new strategy says it will be respectful of views. The fundraising community is a large and passionate one, and not everyone has the same priorities, but all are deserving of respect and consideration,” it says.
CIoF will focus on growing individual, organisational and corporate membership, successfully retaining existing members and recruiting new individuals and organisations from a diverse range of causes and communities.
In the autumn and winter of 2021, CIoF held a series of roundtables, where it asked members: what’s working well, what isn’t working well, and what do they want from the CIoF in the future?
CIoF also undertook an individual member survey in the spring of 2022, where members shared their views on a range of topics.
The organisation also undertook internal research and external benchmarking to inform its discussions and approach.
Related Articles
