NCVO has today announced that it will work together with Acevo, the Institute of Fundraising and Charity Finance Group to produce new guidance for fundraising management.
According to a statement from NCVO, the guidance will be aimed at the chief executives and trustees of charities to ensure they set “the right balance” in their active fundraising strategy. The guidance comes in the wake of the growing public concern surrounding fundraising tactics, particularly after the death of Olive Cooke in May.
NCVO will act as secretariat of the group which will also include representatives from Acevo, the IoF and CFG and will also take input from the Charity Commission. According to a spokesman from NCVO, the guidance will be released around the end of the year and will sit alongside the charity regulator’s own CC20- Charities and fundraising guidance.
Karl Wilding, director of public policy at NCVO (pictured), said: “Our guidance will help boards and chief executives ensure they know what the consequences of certain fundraising demands and techniques are. It will provide advice on how to strike the balance between their responsibility to generate funds and their responsibility to act ethically and uphold their reputation”.
Asheem Singh, director of public policy at ACEVO, said: “A charity’s fundraising techniques create reputational implications, not only for the fundraising team, but for the whole organisation. Chief executives and boards need to be in the loop and on top of the methods and techniques their fundraisers deploy”.
Andrew O’Brien, head of policy and public affairs at Charity Finance Group, said: “Boards and senior leadership teams need to understand the regulatory environment and how best to implement the rules. This is the right time to produce guidance which can strengthen understanding and empower boards and senior leaders. Rule-setting is just one side of the coin, of course, we also need effective compliance”.
Ceri Edwards, director of policy and communications at the Institute of Fundraising, said: “We hope that by developing this new guidance trustees will be able to ensure their charity continues to make a significant impact in the work that they do while also showing fundraising leadership to their causes”.
