IoF introduces certification programme for public fundraisers
Howard Lake | 26 September 2017 | News
The Institute of Fundraising has launched a new Certification Programme for public fundraisers, to help ensure charities and fundraising agencies continue to achieve high standards in fundraising.
The Certification Programme covers both charities with in-house fundraising teams and fundraising agencies. It covers those who work on:
- direct debit door-to-door
- street
- private site
- telephone fundraising
It features three elements:
- a detailed self-assessment form is completed by the charity or agency, which assesses their compliance policies and processes.
- in-depth observations of their training programmes to ensure that excellent training standards are being consistently met.
- a mystery shopping programme to check and feedback on whether these processes are being implemented in practice.
The programme is designed to ensure that public fundraisers have the processes and tools in place to improve how they ask the public to support their causes.
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Existing measures
The certification programme does not operate on its own. It complements existing measures from the Institute of Fundraising to support its members, and the stronger regulatory environment in which fundraisers operate.
These measures include:
- street fundraising Site Management Agreements
- mystery shopping by the Institute on the street and at private sites
- the call-levelling system being introduced for telephone fundraising
A list of the agencies and charities that have completed the certification process has been published on the Institute’s website.
Peter Hills-Jones, Director of Compliance at the Institute of Fundraising said: “This work… demonstrates, one year after the merger between the IoF and the PFRA, how much more the IoF can offer our members and the fundraising community.
“It sends an important message that these IoF members are part of the recognised and respected certification programme. We would encourage any organisations operating outside this programme to step up and take part in the future.”
Stephen Dunmore, the Fundraising Regulator‘s Chief Executive, welcomed the Institute’s efforts to help agencies and charities show that their public fundraising practices are accountable.
He said: “The IoF’s new certification programme, along with the launch of the Fundraising Regulator’s third party registration, will send a clear message to the public that those who sign up are fully committed to high fundraising standards.”
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.