The IoF has today called on candidates from all political parties standing at the next general election to support fundraising in their communities, as part of its general election briefing published today.
As part of its election briefing, the Institute of Fundraising has said set out three key ways that “politicians can support fundraising”; those being: “Make it easier for more people to leave a gift in their will”, “support smaller charities to raise even more money and have a bigger impact” and “champion charity fundraising locally and nationally”.
The document Supporting Charity Fundraising: General Election 2017 calls on all candidates to recognise that fundraising is more important now than ever, due to the strain being placed on charities up and down the UK, particularly smaller community organisations.
“Charities are needed more than ever. Almost two thirds of organisations across the UK reported a rise in demand last year, but only one quarter have the resources to meet that need,” said the IoF. “Smaller charities are struggling in particular – only 46 per cent are confident that their organisation will survive the next five years”.
The briefing also sets out the kinds of impact that fundraising makes. The document says that over 14 million people in the UK donate regularly, that 83 per cent of people in the UK have used a charitable service in the past year and that 8/10 people agree that “charities play a vital role in their local community”.
The document was published today in conjunction with a separate toolkit for fundraisers, which the IoF have said will help the sector “speak up” during the general election. The toolkit encourages IoF members to send the election briefing to all candidates running in their local area.
The IoF have also published a letter from Peter Lewis, the membership body's chief executive, written to all of the major political parties in the UK setting out many of the points above and also cites some of the recent public polling conducted by the IoF in partnership with YouGov which showed that 81 per cent of respondents would only give to charity having been asked.
Toolkit to help fundraisers ‘speak up’ during election run-in
The IoF have also today published a toolkit for members to help the voice of fundraisers be heard during before the next general election is held on 8 June 2017.
The document titled, Speaking up for charity fundraising: A toolkit sets out the ways that fundraisers can and should “engage candidates from all parties in the issues that we want to talk about”.
The IoF said that “whoever forms the next government, there are some specific policies that we think are needed to support excellent fundraising and giving to charity”.
With that in mind, the IoF are calling on members to “find out who your local candidates are and how to contact them” and then “write to or email all of your candidates and ask them to support charity fundraising if they are elected”.
To that end, the IoF have also sent members a template email or letter, which says that “charities play a vital role in our community and our country, spending £1,568 every second on vital services and causes that people care about – from curing disease, to supporting vulnerable people, running arts and community centres and helping the victims of abuse”.
In Fundraising Magazine
Mike Smith, head of external affairs at the IoF, said: “Fundraising is a vital profession – raising nearly £10bn every year for good causes that everyone benefits from - and this campaign is all about making sure that candidates from all parties know about this.
"At election time the best way to reach politicians is locally in their constituencies and so we are delighted to be asking our members today to join us in speaking up for fundraising.
"We hope that this will make sure that those elected on 8 June know a bit more about our members and their work, and are even more ready to support and celebrate excellent fundraising.”
Related Articles
