Peter Lewis, chief executive of the London Voluntary Service Council, has been announced as the new chief executive of the Institute of Fundraising.

Lewis, who will take up the role in October, is a qualified solicitor who has previously worked in the City. After leaving the law he was a development manager at Crisis and then executive director of the London Cycling Campaign. After that he spent nearly six years at the Greater London Authority as business manager for the Olympics, sport and regeneration.

He also spent nearly five years on the board of the London Marathon and was a non-executive director of the London Youth Games.  He remains on the board of the London Sustainability Exchange.

The Institute has been without a chief executive since March when Amanda McLean quit with immediate effect after just four months in post. She said she found the workload too much while also raising a young family.

New strategy by Institute board

Lewis’s appointment marks a complete change in strategy by the Institute’s board – McLean was a career fundraiser whereas Lewis does not appear to have held a dedicated fundraising position since 1999 when he left Crisis.

Mark Astarita, the Institute’s newly-appointed chair, cited Lewis’s “track record of not only leading membership-based charities, but also in senior roles in government and the private sector”.

Paul Butler, the chair of training and advice umbrella body LVSC, where Lewis has been CEO for two years and eight months, said he wished Lewis well in his new job and added: “Peter has successfully led LVSC through a time of significant change. He leaves us more focused and more influential.”

Lewis himself said: “Never has the role of fundraisers in bringing in every penny of extra cash been more important than at this time of public spending cuts and continued economic uncertainty.

"The Institute's task in supporting, training and speaking on behalf of fundraisers, the lifeblood of any organisation, is crucial.

"I'm also looking forward to working with government and other partners to really unlock the giving potential of this country."

Lewis met Boris reps last month

Last month, in his role at LVSC, Lewis led a delegation of his members at a meeting with advisers from Mayor Boris Johnson’s office to discuss the problems being faced by local London charities as a result of public spending cuts.  A spokeswoman from the Mayor’s office told civilsociety.co.uk that Lizzie Noel, the Mayor’s adviser on social action, had offered to meet the group again if they could come up with “clear and obvious ways the Mayor’s office can campaign on behalf of the sector”.

Lewis beat dozens of applicants to the Institute job. The Institute received 49 applications this time, 75 per cent more than last year when McLean was appointed.