Last year the sector fought off more than its fair share of criticism. Peter Lewis is dreaming of a collaborative Christmas in 2014.

2013 has been an impressive year for many charities – increasing their reach and impact at a time of a significant squeeze on household incomes and public spending cuts. However, rather than being remembered as a year when we feted this amazing success in the face of adversity it will be remembered as the year when we were defending ourselves against blows from all sides.

The Charities Act Review gave fresh air to attacks on face-to-face fundraising; MPs, aided by an eager right-wing press (and with the chair of the Charity Commission fanning the flames) began an assault on charity CEO salaries; the Lobbying Bill, rather than focusing on the professional guns for hire took aim at charities working rightfully to further their charitable objectives by securing legislative change; the Welsh Assembly launched a misguided missile at charity business rate relief; and most recently we endured the melodrama of Panorama.

To a great extent we have defended ourselves well. The sector even made ground with concerted collaboration to secure improvements to the gift aid small donations scheme and gift aid which will in time deliver more vital funds for important causes here and abroad. However it has been too much of a hard slog when in a more sensible world you would have thought people would have been rallying to our causes, competing to make it easier, not more difficult, for us to do our work.

But I want to celebrate the positive. And in the Institute’s 30th year, I particularly want to celebrate fundraisers around the UK who have delivered a rise in voluntary income (according to the most recent Charity Commission actuals) by better linking people to causes they care about. Our members have almost unanimously told us it is much more difficult to raise funds. Yet, at the same time, through sheer hard work and commitment, better data and insight, innovation and creativity, more and better asking, they have delivered more funds to contribute towards making the world a better place. Fundraisers, I salute you for your efforts in 2013.

Yet many of the challenges outlined above will remain in 2014, in what will no doubt become an even more febrile atmosphere in the run-up to the General Election in 2015.

So my personal plea for 2014 is that we, collectively as a sector, get on the front foot and start better communicating the positive work charities around the UK deliver. My hope is that we get even better not just at engaging the public emotionally with our causes, not just at communicating our impact, but also at ensuring the public understand how we work. That we spend a bit more time explaining the complexity of what we do and how we do it; explaining the need to have effective and efficient leadership and management; explaining the need to have skilled professional staff working alongside our volunteers to enable us to achieve all the great things we do to make the world a better place.

And if the Christmas Fairy offered to make my charity dream come true I would paint a picture of 2014 being the year when the sector came together to create a powerful, positive, influential sector-wide campaign. This would climax in an event in late 2014 attended by leaders of all political parties committing to work in partnership to deliver our shared vision of a better world. It would be attended by key media editors committing to tell the positive as well as the difficult stories about charities. And as the lights dim at the close of the day, an excited snapper would catch the moment when, in the middle of a huddle of charity and sector body leaders, Sir Stuart and Sir Stephen embrace in front of a joint NCVO/ CFG/ Acevo/ Charities Aid Foundation/ Institute/ FRSB/ PFRA/ Navca / SCC/ DSC etc stand, where all the political leaders have signed up to a five-point sector manifesto.

Peter Lewis is chief executive of the Institute of Fundraising