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CIOF Fundraising Convention to take place for the last time this year
Howard Lake | 12 May 2026 | News
The Chartered Institute of Fundraising (CIOF) has announced that its annual Fundraising Convention will take place for the final time this year, to be replaced by a new, more flexible and affordable line-up of events starting in 2027.
The decision, confirmed in emails to members, follows a review and consultation with members, sponsors, and the wider sector.
Why end the UK’s annual event for fundraisers?
The CIOF stated that the current climate is challenging and that “a single large flagship event no longer fits their way of working and learning” for some members. The new structure is intended to be more accessible, flexible, and practical, aligning with different approaches to working life and facilitating year-round learning.
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Ceri Edwards, Executive Director of Engagement at CIOF, confirmed that feedback indicated fundraisers needed “something more flexible, affordable and practical that fits around the realities of modern working life”. The organisation emphasised that the change is “not about stepping back from events or professional development” but about building a more connected, year-round learning programme.
The change only applies to the Fundraising Convention and does not affect the Scottish Fundraising Conference and Awards.
New events programme from 2027
The final Fundraising Convention will be replaced by two new one-day events:
- The Fundraising Summit: This event will focus on leadership, strategy, and the future of the profession.
- Fundraising in Action: This event is designed for building and enhancing practical skills for early, mid-career and established fundraisers.
These events will complement the ongoing, year-round programme of training, webinars, and activity delivered through local groups across the UK. The new offerings are designed to be priced to “reflect the realities of the sector”.
Final Convention details
The final Fundraising Convention will take place on 4-5 June in London at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre. This year’s event features more than 80 sessions across nine tracks.
Standard in-person tickets for members are currently available at £420 per day, but early bird prices and various bursaries have previously been available. The current offer for CIOF members is a 10% discount for on purchases of five or more tickets before 17.00 on 22 May.
History of the Fundraising Convention
An annual event for the UK’s professional fundraisers was established by what was then called the Institute of Charity Fundraising Managers (ICFM), which became the Institute of Fundraising and now the Chartered Institute of Fundraising.
The Fundraising Convention was an opportunity for fundraisers to meet, share experience and learn from a wide range of fundraisers, consultants and specialist agencies. At a time when few countries had a national professional body for fundraisers, let alone a national conference, the events attracted an international audience, and were the only opportunity, short of international travel, to hear from international speakers, often from the USA and Canada.
It fulfilled a valuable function in the broader establishment of fundraising as a profession in the UK, and a public face for politicians, journalists, funders, donors and charity leaders and boards to explore.
The Convention was matched with an annual Scottish Conference, and in due course by regional conferences set up by the volunteer-run regional and special interest groups of the CIOF.
The Convention has featured many inspiring plenary and guest speakers, ranging from Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson, to Lenny Henry and Dame Kelly Holmes. It managed to run remotely during the COVID lockdown of 2020, and took place several months later the following year in September 2021.
Early conferences were held at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, before moving to London locations including the Hilton Metropole (Edgware Road) from 2005, the Barbican from 2016, and its current venue of the QEII Convention Centre in Westminster.
For some time the Convention was said to be the largest conference after the national political party conferences, which considerably limited the venues that it could be hosted at.
The event met the Institute’s aims of providing training and education to enhance the profession, and was combined with the Institute’s annual general meeting, and, in more recent times, the National Fundraising Awards event in the evening of the first day.
Speaker opportunities at Convention
The Convention offered a wide variety of formats and aimed to highlight a diversity of speakers. For example, an IWITOT session (I Wish I’d Thought of That, from SOFII) has become part of the event (offering new speaker opportunities and support) as have Rising Stars sessions.
There were other social events that became part of the event, including a Conference choir of fundraisers.
Volunteer support
The events relied extensively on volunteer support, from the volunteer conference board to select themes, topics and speakers, to the group of volunteers who helped set up and strike the event, supported conference speakers, and simply ensured through long hours of effort the success of the events.
Volunteering was also a way that fundraisers who could not secure a training budget to attend a Convention could still be part of it and get to attend some of the sessions.
The event charged various fees to attend, and bursaries were often on offer, sometimes from the broader Institute and its regional groups, and sometimes from commercial providers. Every year the event was made possible by sponsorship from numerous fundraising consultancies and agencies. For many years the lead sponsor has been Blackbaud, as it is this year.
As such the event became an important source of income for the Chartered Institute of Fundraising, a registered charity.
- Collected resources from National Fundraising Convention 2010 (7 July 2010)
- National Convention – a volunteer’s perspective (9 July 2012)
- Plenary speakers announced for National Fundraising Convention (27 February 2009)
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.