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Jon Scourse to leave FRSB

Fundraising | Tania Mason | 17 Sep 2008

Fundraising Standards Board chief executive Jon Scourse has quit his job and will leave the organisation at the end of the year.

He said his reasons for leaving were “entirely personal”.

“I want to get a better balance in my lifestyle, to spend more time on my outside interests and with my family,” he told Charity News Alert.

“When I set out to do this job I wanted to create a new organisation, to get it functioning, and I always planned to review my position after three years. 

“It will be three years in February 2009, and when I look back at what I’ve achieved I think I can tick most boxes, and I’m quite happy.  But it’s been pretty full-on for three years, and now I simply want a better balance in my life.” He lives in Oxfordshire and the commute to London has taken its toll, he said.

However, he added that he felt “open-minded” about taking on another role in the sector, either at the “fundraising coalface” or as a chief executive, provided it was in a smaller, less high-profile organisation, and closer to home.

Scourse (pictured) handed in his resignation at a five-and-a-half-hour FRSB board meeting yesterday, and a sub-committee was set up to recruit his successor.  Scourse said he did not know whether he would be involved in making that appointment, but he has not been invited to sit on the sub-committee.

Intense scrutiny

Scourse has been under intense scrutiny since he took on the role, and has come in for some criticism over his leadership of the organisation. In particular, detractors have accused him of lacking financial transparency, and of exaggerating complaints about fundraising to justify the FRSB’s existence.

But he has succeeded in convincing more than 900 charities to join the scheme, which now represents 35 per cent of all giving in the UK. Last month he unveiled a strategy for the next phase of growth, which included fee hikes for the largest charities.  Most members seemed to welcome the plans, but Scourse is known to be frustrated at the apparent reluctance of many member charities to promote the scheme to their supporters.

Colin Lloyd, FRSB chairman, paid tribute to Scourse’s work and said it had been a privilege to work with him.

“His commitment and professionalism to this pioneering task has been exemplary and I do not believe that we would have achieved the success that we have without his dedication,” Lloyd said. “On behalf of his board colleagues I would like to pass on our appreciation and wish Jon every success in the future.”

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Who's Who: Tania Mason