The Institute of Fundraising and the Public Fundraising Association have today announced that the merger between the two organisations will be completed by 31 July and that there will be no redundancies made.

In a joint statement released by the two organisations today both the boards of the IoF and the PFRA have “unanimously endorsed” the merger and that a heads of terms document has been signed by both chairs and chief executives of the organisations.

While the full heads of terms document has not been released publicly, it has been announced that Peter Hills-Jones, currently chief executive of the PFRA, will take on the new role of director of fundraising compliance with the IoF.

The role will effectively see him run the newly established Fundraising Compliance Directorate, which will sit within the IoF. All PFRA staff will move across with Peter Hills-Jones and take up positions within the new Fundraising Compliance Directorate.

Three new sub-committees will also be established within the IoF’s existing board of trustees: one each to take the lead on door-to-door fundraising; street and private site fundraising and telephone compliance. Existing PFRA directors will sit on the committee that “most closely relates to their role and expertise”. The chairs of the three sub-committees will be selected by the IoF and PFRA.

All of the PFRA’s reserves and assets will also be transferred to the IoF and “ring-fenced under a three year agreement ending 31 July 2019” to be used by the Institute for the purposes of “supporting and furthering compliance in public fundraising”.

A spokesperson for the IoF and PFRA said that a consultation process for members of both organisations will launch “in the middle of April” and will continue on through May, before the final decision to ratify the merger agreement is made at the PFRA’s AGM on 15 June.

The consultation process will include a series of ‘Question and Answer’ sessions to allow PFRA members to discuss the proposal with trustees of the IoF and directors of the PFRA.

Richard Taylor, chair of the IoF, said: “The PFRA has achieved a huge amount since it was formed. That’s why we at the IoF are so excited to be moving towards a merger and are confident that this will ensure we have a single membership body driving best practice and speaking with one voice.”

Paul Stallard, chair of the PFRA, said: “We have worked hard over the last decade to strengthen street and door-to-door fundraising and we are now going one step further.

"The events of last year showed there can be no gaps in self-regulation if we are to preserve public trust, so I strongly believe this merger will provide an excellent platform to help our members deliver even higher standards of fundraising.”