# A quarter of female fundraisers experience sexual harassment, says AFP survey

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2018/04/11/quarter-female-fundraisers-experience-sexual-harassment-says-afp-survey/
- Published: 2018-04-11T18:06:08+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**A survey by the North American Association for Fundraising Professionals (AFP)
has found that a quarter of female fundraisers have experienced sexual harassment
during their fundraising career.**

The survey, “the first comprehensive study of its kind about sexual harassment in
the fundraising profession”, was conducted by AFP, the AFP Foundation for Philanthropy
and The Chronicle of Philanthropy. It was conducted online independently by the 
Harris Poll.

The survey, launched on International Women’s Day 2018, is the first major project
of the [Women’s Impact Initiative](http://www.afpidea.org/wii). This is a two-year
campaign focusing on issues related to women in the fundraising profession, including
harassment, salary inequity and lack of women in fundraising leadership positions.

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## Harassment

• **48%** of respondents had either personally experienced, witnessed, and/or heard
second-hand about incidents of sexual harassment.
• **21%** of all respondents to
the survey (men and women) had personally experienced harassment• **16%** of all
respondents had witnessed harassment• **26%** have been told about incidents of 
harassment• **7%** of men had experienced sexual harassment in the fundraising profession•**
74%** of all respondents reported having had at least two harassment experiences•**
51%** of all respondents have had three or more experiences of harassment 

**SEE ALSO: [My experience of being a woman in the charity sector](https://fundraising.co.uk/2017/07/14/experience-woman-charity-sector/)
by Beth Upton (14 July 2017)

## Types of harassment

The most common types of sexual harassment experienced by fundraisers were:
• inappropriate
sexual comments (80%)• unwanted touching or physical contact (55%). 

## Support from an employer

What kind of support have fundraisers received from their employers?
• **71%** of
respondents who had experienced sexual harassment and told their organisation said
that no action had been taken against the perpetrator.• **53%** were not very or
not at all satisfied with how their manager, supervisor or employer had responded
to the allegation of sexual harassment• **35%** of respondents report a “negative
impact” on their career due to reporting the incident of harassment. 

## Harassment by donors

According to the survey, 65% of harassment cases reported were carried out by a 
donor against a fundraiser. In 96% of these cases the perpetrator was male.
27% 
of respondents felt that donors had more rights than they did. In addition, 13% 
clearly felt a serious lack of support from their charity employer, believing that
their organisation accords a greater value to the loyalty of the donors than to 
the safety of it staff! 

 **SEE ALSO: [Unacceptable behaviour by donors, condoned by charities. Things must change](https://fundraising.co.uk/2018/04/05/unacceptable-behaviour-donors-condoned-charities-things-must-change)
by Giles Pegram CBE**

 
Mike Geiger, MBA, CPA, president and CEO of AFP, said: “The number of cases involving
donors is eye-opening and points to a unique and very troubling situation within
the profession… We know most donors have only the best interest of the cause at 
heart, but our message will be clear: no donation and no donor is worth taking away
an individual’s respect and self-worth and turning a blind eye to harassment.”Tycely
Williams, chair of AFP’s Women’s Impact Initiative, added: “A big takeaway from 
the survey is that many fundraisers like their organisations and believe it will
support them if harassment occurs. But at the same time, the data shows that once
harassment was reported, often times very little was done. We need to begin a larger
conversation with everyone in the sector about what we can all do to not only prevent
harassment, but respond appropriately and timely when it does occur.”  

## #MeToo in fundraising?

Many respondents were optimistic that positive change was being made in terms of
challenging sexual harassment within fundraising.
For example:**• 92%** believe 
that sexual harassment allegations in fundraising are more likely to be taken seriously
now than in the past.**• 82%** felt that the #MeToo movement was having a positive
influence on their workplace.**• 93%** want a zero tolerance policy to be implemented
in every workplace, with 70% feeling very strongly that this should be the standard.

## WATCH: Ensuring diversity is a key theme at Fundraising Convention 2018

Sufina Ahmad, chair of the Institute of Fundraising’s [Equality, Diversity and Inclusion panel](https://fundraising.co.uk/2018/02/05/iof-creates-panel-advise-making-fundraising-diverse-inclusive/),
explains why diversity will be a key theme at the [2018 Fundraising Convention](http://www.fundraisingconvention.uk/delegate-booking-2018).