12/01/10

By Andrew Holt

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.

According to the Institute, more fundraisers serving on trustee boards would not only ensure fellow fundraisers are supported, but also grow the individual's understanding of how boards of trustees think and work.

It is a great opportunity for fundraisers to develop leadership and governance skills, whilst building on the capacity of a charity to raise funds.

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.

Lindsay Boswell, Chief Executive of the Institute of Fundraising, said: "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 added: "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.

Any Institute member interested in taking up a trustee level position will be signposted to the NCVO's resources.

Stuart Etherington, CEO of NCVO, said: "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."

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