The Institute of Fundraising (IoF) and the Small Charities Coalition have announced that they will work together on a new joint initiative aimed to engage smaller charities on the fundraising reforms coming into effect next year.
Responding to concerns raised that smaller charities traditionally struggle to have their voices heard, and mindful that any new future developments on fundraising policy need to be fully informed and responsive to the needs of all fundraising organisations, the IoF and the Small Charities Coalition will launch an online survey and hold a forum to discuss issues and priorities.
The initiative is aimed to understand the views of smaller charities in relation to the new fundraising regulatory system taking shape and to hear their ideas, concerns and recommendations. It is hoped that this will support and be complementary to the work currently being undertaken to establish the new Charity Fundraising Regulator, and provide additional intelligence and information to feed in to discussions on a new Fundraising Preference Service.
The forum and consultation are planned to take place following the summit being convened by the NCVO in early December to allow for any recommendations or developments from the summit to be fully addressed.
Further details about how to be involved will follow soon. People can register their interest in this work or share their views by emailing: [email protected].
Daniel Fluskey, Head of Policy and Research at the Institute of Fundraising said:
“We are delighted to be launching this initiative alongside the Small Charities Coalition. Smaller charities make up a huge proportion of the sector. The IoF's individual membership of 5,500 fundraisers come from 2,500 organisations across the UK and it is vital that we work to support, understand and represent their views, concerns and ideas. By highlighting the recommendations and priorities from smaller charities we can ensure that the new system being formed works best for all fundraising organisations".
John Barrett from the Small Charities Coalition said:
“There are over 150,000 small charities registered in England and Wales and over 600,000 micro charities too small to register. These are charities that have an annual turnover of under £1 million and make up the overwhelming majority of the UK charity sector. Therefore it is important that any new system of fundraising regulation is fair and proportionate to their methods and resources. We look forward to sharing the views, opinions and recommendations from this consultation with the new Charity Fundraising Regulator“.