Income at the Institute of Fundraising grew by 7 per cent last financial year and its core deficit reduced as the umbrella body plans to edge towards a surplus in the next financial year.
At the Annual General Meeting at the Institute's National Convention yesterday, there was no mention of the consultation on redundancies announced in April, but the fundraising membership body reported it had delivered on increasing membership numbers by 6 per cent year-on-year.
Chair Mark Astarita said however that membership needed to be higher and that he was embarassed by the number of his own staff who are not members. "It bothers me that others are not doing their bit," he said.
The Institute said that its current operating deficit of £99,584 was a result of investment in delivering new strategic objectives which came into effect last year. This deficit was down £10,000 on the previous year. Income was up too; £4.5m in 2012/13 from £4.2m in 2011/12.
More broadly the deficit was down from £548,860 to £241,972, but the vast majority of this deficit is attributed to spending down a legacy made to legacy campaign Remember a Charity.
Nearly half of all IoF income came from its conference and events programme, 'enabling fundraisers to be the best'. Income from this area increased by more than £150,000 to £2.1m.
The Institute laid out its plans for 2014/15 which included releasing four fundraising research reports a year.
Speaking to the AGM, chief executive Peter Lewis said the Institute's website now has 400 abstracts on research on its website. "That's the kind of space we want to be in...publishing academically sound [research]," he said.
The organisation has also begun running in-house bespoke training for charities, and aims to expand this to five organisational members next year.
Continuous professional development remains a priority for the Institute, with membership fee income itself accounting for around a quarter of income. The Institute wants to see itself move towards chartered status and be an Ofqual awarding body which can formally endorse training programmes for fundraising professionals. It is launching its advanced diploma this year and is aiming for 20 senior fundraisers to participate.
One IoF member at the AGM expressed concern at the lack of graduate-level support for fundraisers, as the Institute also touted its work with the directors of fundraising network, geared again towards the very-senior level of fundraising.
Three new trustees were voted to the IoF board, but there are lingering complaints about the process of the election, with consultant Stephen Pidgeon declaring he hoped the organisation running the process had been duly rapped on the knuckles by the IoF for its performance.
