The Institute of Fundraising has launched a campaign urging its members to volunteer on the boards of charities. This is in response to member feedback indicating that charity trustees often do not understand fundraising, and can be unrealistic in their expectations of fundraising staff.
This move, along with the mentoring scheme currently being piloted in the Institute’s South West region, is the first of the Institute’s learning strategy to be implemented. The document, titled ‘Career-long Learning for Excellent Fundraising’ was put out for consultation with the sector in 2009.
Many high profile fundraisers are already on boards of trustees. In addition to being on the board at the Institute of Fundraising, itself a registered charity, Mark Astarita MInstF, Fundraising Director at the British Red Cross, is a trustee at VSO. Katie Swan, Direct Marketing Manager at Greenpeace, is a trustee at international children’s NGO Childhope.
According to Katie Swan:
“I first got involved with Childhope because they needed some support and advice with a new Direct Marketing initiative they were planning. After volunteering for a few months, a position on the board opened up and I jumped at the chance to apply. I've been a trustee for just over a year now and I find it a hugely rewarding experience. Supporting such an amazing organisation, such as Childhope, while also developing my own professional skills is an opportunity that I feel truly grateful to have.”
Lindsay Boswell, Chief Executive of the Institute of Fundraising, comments:
“Imagine if all 5,000 of our members joined boards of trustees. This would mean that the same number of trustee boards were populated by professional fundraisers, which can only be good for the sector.
“Clearly one of the barriers to achieving this is getting employers to be prepared to release their staff to be trustees. We’re convinced that any organisation that does so is going to have a more rounded, experienced fundraiser as a result.”
Paul Marvell, Director of Learning at the Institute of Fundraising adds:
“One of the things members tell us is that they need support and help in getting their boards to engage with fundraising. Any member who takes up this opportunity through being a trustee themselves is going to be better at ‘upward management’ as well as helping their own professional development.”
On this initiative, the Institute is working in partnership with NCVO, who provide a recruitment service for charities seeking trustees through their Trustees Unlimited initiative and also through the Trustee Bank feature on their website which regularly has up to 100 vacancies in a range of different causes.
According to Stuart Etherington, CEO of NCVO:
"Becoming a charity trustee is a great opportunity to share your skills, meet new people, and make a difference.
“Against the often complex legal responsibilities of trustees, fundraising can be overlooked or avoided on boards, especially due to nervousness around the complex rules relating to fundraising.
“Fundraising is a crucial part of many organisation’s funding mix and we welcome this initiative from the Institute of Fundraising as a way of bringing specific skills onto voluntary and community sector boards.
“Almost half of all boards have a trustee vacancy at any one time, so by joining a board, you will be helping us to overcome a real problem for the sector as well as gaining personal satisfaction and new experiences."
Andrew Hind, Chief Executive of the Charity Commission is also supportive:
“The Charity Commission welcomes this initiative by the Institute of Fundraising. Experienced fundraisers bring a set of skills and experience which are always useful to charity boards of trustees. This is a terrific opportunity to help strengthen trustee boards whilst contributing to the ability of charities to generate additional income.”
