Govt must support donor research and fundraiser training, says Institute and FRSB

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Govt must support donor research and fundraiser training, says Institute and FRSB

Fundraising | Celina Ribeiro | 10 Mar 2011

The government's Giving Green Paper focuses too much on technology as a cure-all and lacks detail on tax reform, research into giving and fundraiser training, according to separate paper consultation responses submitted by the Institute of Fundraising and the Fundraising Standards Board.

Both fundraising umbrella bodies suggest in their submissions that the paper lacked substance in terms of how to encourage more people giving more.

The Institute said that the paper lacked practical suggestions for increasing philanthropy, and has called on the government to support research into donor motivation in order to help charities encourage more people to give.

The green paper, the Institute notes, is “totally silent on the issue of tax” and the fundraising body calls on the government to revisit the issue of tax simplification and reform in order to incentivise giving.

Louise Richards (pictured), director of policy and campaigns at the Institute, said: "Fundraising has to be at the heart of growing a giving culture in the UK.

"The Big Society does not mean 'free society'," she added. "None of the changes the government recommend can be achieved without investing in charities in terms of funding, skills training and other forms of support."

Both the Institute and FRSB appear unimpressed by the emphasis on technology in the green paper, with the FRSB in particular warning that without an emphasis on best practice, new technologies could be abused by unscrupulous fundraisers and damage public trust and confidence.

Trust and confidence formed the centrepiece of the FRSB’s response to the document, calling for the government to support the training of fundraisers in order to encourage best practice. This, suggests the FRSB, could most easily be done by co-opting the Funding Commission’s proposed Better Asking campaign.

The consultation period on the green paper, which was launched at the end of last year, ended yesterday.

Directory: Fundraising Standards Board | Institute of Fundraising

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