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Can you afford to join the FRSB? 3

Fundraising | Adrian Beney | 11 Feb 2009

It might be easy to think of consultants as people who are raking it in. In fact I earn less than most of the heads of fundraising I work with; it's as much a lifestyle choice as anything else. I think anyone who works in a "for profit" company in this sector will be keenly aware that ultimately it's usually the client's donors who pay for our services.  So we had better be good and add real value.

So what does this have to do with the FRSB?  Well, an email  plopped into my (now rather tidy - see previous blog) inbox with the subject line "Can you afford not to join the FRSB?"

I'm afraid the answer remains "Yes - for now."  The scale of FRSB charges for a firm like ours is three or five times higher than for a charity with the same turnover - in our case it would be about 10 per cent of last year's retained profit.  Why are the charges higher? I imagine it's because the FRSB considers us the fat cats - maybe even the bankers - of the sector: prospering at the expense of others. So we should PAY.  But I return to the question: "Who pays our fees?"

For me the fact that this differential charging system exists suggests that those running the FRSB are simply out of touch with the reality of the sector. Come on FRSB - where do you think our genuinely modest profit comes from? It comes from a delicate balance between providing the best value for our charitable clients that we possibly can, and making enough profit to make the business sustainable.  

Maybe when the FRSB puts the relationship between the charity, its fundraisers and the donors first we'll join.  TIll then...

P.S. I was going to finish this rant (and I do realise it is a rant) with a challenge to the new chief executive to do something about this.  I wanted to challenge him by name, but the FRSB's website just says "Our new chief executive is due in post 2 February 2009."  Today is the 11th Feb and his / her name isn't there.  COME ON FRSB - do I really to go to Google (or earlier blogs on this site) to find out who's running you?

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