The Institute of Fundraising is mustering support for a sector-wide public-facing campaign that will reinforce the message that fundraisers have every right to ask for money on behalf of beneficiaries. 

The campaign, provisionally called ‘Right to Ask’, will seek to overcome the opposition to fundraising that exists in some quarters, and to give fundraisers themselves more confidence to request donations in all situations.

Lindsay Boswell, Institute chief executive (pictured), explained: “We hear all the time about people’s rights not be telephoned at home, not to be approached in the street by face-to-face fundraisers, not to be sent direct mail. The whole of Bedfordshire is now a no-cold-calling zone.

“So there are all these barriers to fundraising, and we want to remind fundraisers that actually, they shouldn’t be ashamed to ask, and in fact on behalf of their beneficiaries, they have every right to ask.”

He said one of the prime audiences for the campaign is the sector itself, particularly trustees and service delivery staff who don’t always understand how essential fundraising is.

“They often tend to view it as a necessary evil, when it is so much more than that. We hope that this campaign will give fundraisers the confidence to have that conversation with service delivery people and to say to them that on behalf of our beneficiaries, we have a right to ask.”

The ‘Right to Ask’ could become the overarching brand for all the Institute’s policy work, Boswell said, on issues as diverse as telephone fundraising, data protection, face-to-face fundraising and direct mail. A logo will be created that can be applied to all materials and some soundbites will be written that fundraisers can use to defend their work when they are challenged.

Other umbrella bodies expressed interest

But it could be rolled out even further, as the Institute is discussing the concept with the Fundraising Standards Board and the Public Fundraising Regulatory Association, both of whom have said they are keen to explore the idea further. Boswell said it could be useful to other bodies too, such as the Association of Charity Shops.

The campaign is being devised with the help of the Institute’s trustees and its policy advisory board, which is comprised of senior fundraisers from member charities. They are currently drawing up the objectives of the campaign and working out how it will manifest itself.

The Institute expects to launch Right to Ask in April.