A fundraising think tank has announced that it is bringing forward plans to unveil what its called a “normative theory” in fundraising ethics, as the FRSB’s interim report doesn't "strike the appropriate balance”.

Ian MacQuillin, director of Rogare at Plymouth University's Centre for Sustainable Philanthropy’s (pictured), said that the FRSB’s recommendation to impose a limit on the number of times an individual could be contacted by a charity, “would not strike the appropriate balance between duties to donors and beneficiaries.”

Rogare has a remit to “explore under-research and ‘under-thought’ areas of fundraising” according to its website.

The think tank is seeking to develop its ‘normative’ ethical fundraising theory in a bid to stop the sector from “making up its ethics on the hoof”, as MacQuillin believes fundraisers did in the wake of the death of Olive Cooke.

“There is currently huge demand for change in fundraising. People and organisations with loud voices are demanding an end to, as they see it, ‘unethical’ fundraising practices,” he said.

“For that reason, the fundraising profession has an ethical duty to ensure that any reforms enacted in response to the objections of certain stakeholders are correctly balanced with the long-term interests of the beneficiaries of voluntary organisations.”

According to a statement from Rogare, the theory in a “nutshell” is: “Ethical fundraising balances the duty of fundraisers to seek support, with the rights of other stakeholders not to be put under ‘undue’ pressure to donate.”

The think tank has been working on its new theory for “two months” but MacQuillin and his team are looking to “describe some of our early thinking and ideas” in the hope that it will “contribute to the discussion about how fundraising needs to reform”. This initial thinking has been written down in a blog, which appeared on Plymouth University’s website.

Rogare will present its “first formulation of the theory” at the Institute of Fundraising Scotland’s conference in October.