The Institute of Fundraising has today announced that it will revise the composition of its Standards Committee so that “the voices” of donors and the public will be heard alongside fundraisers.
The IoF, which is already recruiting an independent chair for the committee, has also agreed to allow three further independent lay members to sit on the board from September 2015.
Calls for members of the public to sit on the IoF Standards Committee were made last week by Rob Wilson, minister for civil society.
The IoF said in a statement this morning that it is responding, “to calls that the voice of the public – including those who donate to charities – should be taken into account when standards are being set with which fundraisers need to comply”.
The new Standards Committee will have four independent members, including the committee chair.
There will be a total of seven IoF members. One of those will be the vice chair of the committee, and will be an IoF trustee. Another will be the chair of organisation's committee in Scotland.
Alongside these eleven, there will be four other voting members, including a representative from the Fundraising Standards Board. The committee will also have a representative from the PFRA, a legal representative and a representative from a consumer body.
This brings the total number of voting members on the committee up to 15.
A number of wider, sector regulators and umbrella bodies will also be invited to observe the workings of the new Standards Committee from September.
These will include NCVO, Wales Council for Voluntary Action (WCVA) and the Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action (NICVA). They will sit alongside the Charity Commission who are already non-voting observers.
Peter Lewis, chief executive of the IoF (pictured), said: “Until now, the Institute of Fundraising has accepted that the public voice in standard setting for fundraising was represented by the Fundraising Standards Board, who have a seat on Standards Committee.
“We hope that the overall composition of Standards Committee, comprising the essential insight of fundraisers; the views of our self-regulatory partners; legal and consumer expertise; input from the public; all under the leadership of an Independent Chair, will enable us to react more quickly both to changes in fundraising practice and to public opinion”.
Sir Stuart Etherington, chief executive of NCVO, who had previously called for changes to the make-up of the commitee, said: “This is a sensible decision that will help to strengthen the self-regulation of fundraising, by ensuring the public interest is represented in setting standards.
“I hope the IoF's decision will be the first in a number of steps that the bodies responsible for self-regulation will be taking to ensure the public can have greater confidence in fundraising and in its self-regulation.”
Etherington has today published a number of recommendations for further improvements to self-regulation.
