The Institute of Fundraising is urging charities to prepare their volunteers for a potential public backlash at this weekend’s London Marathon following the highly critical Dispatches expose on the running of the event.

The Institute’s Events Managers’ Forum has sent an email to members asking them to equip their volunteers with answers to nine different questions which the Institute expects may be put to them by members of the public angered or alerted by the Dispatches programme, which was critical of the Marathon’s expensive golden bond system and the general lack of transparency around how charities benefit from the event.

Charities are also encouraged to respond on their own websites.

The Institute’s action was prompted by some concern that volunteers would be confronted by angry members of the public and be unable to justify the large amounts spent in securing lucrative Marathon places for supporters.

The Institute says that charities and volunteers should be able and willing to share information on how many golden bond places they may hold. It also encourages them to counter any criticism by having figures ready on how much money is raised for the charity by the London Marathon, how else they obtain places in the race and what impact the money raised has on beneficiaries.