Present: Nadine Campbell (Chair), Rohan Hewavisenti (Honorary Treasurer), Katie Docherty (Chief Executive), CIOF Trustees and Members
In attendance: CIOF staff team; Stephane Raper (BSL Interpreter) and John Emery (BSL Interpreter)
1. WELCOME
The Chair welcomed everyone to the Annual General Meeting of the Chartered Institute of Fundraising and declared the meeting open.
The Chair explained that the AGM was being recorded and a live transcript provided throughout. Questions were welcomed via the Q&A function, but should anyone experience any technical issues, they could pop their questions into the chat function which would be open throughout the meeting.
Questions would be responded to at the end of the AGM.
2. MINUTES OF THE AGM HELD ON 5 JULY 2021
The Chair noted that the minutes of the AGM held on 29th September 2022 had been received.
3. REPORT FROM THE CHAIR
Looking back on 2022, as well as these first 9 months of 2023, I am incredibly proud of the work that we have done at the Chartered Institute of Fundraising to support our members and champion fundraisers’ achievements during what remains to be a challenging time to raise essential funds from supporters to bolster the causes we all care about.
We launched our new organisational strategy at the last AGM, and the team are now working hard to deliver against the priorities we set, after extensive consultation and engagement with you, our members.
On a personal note as well, while this AGM and my role is to present and talk to the Annual Report for 2022, I just wanted to pick out how great it was to be alongside so many of you at Fundraising Convention again in July and be part of my community, to develop, talk, connect and share. It really reminded me what I value about my profession and how much I gain from being with my peers. I am sure that the Fundraising Festival in December will deliver a similarly brilliant event for people to join us digitally.
The information shared in our Annual Report for 2022 highlights some of the key areas of change that have taken place and I wanted to just pick up some of the important and noteworthy projects, pieces of work, and developments that have taken place:
Representing a strong professional fundraising community by championing you and your work within the charity sector and to external organisations and sectors including regulators and governments, and through press and media work.
Taking on responsibility for leading the Giving Tuesday campaign in the UK, which raised over £20m for good causes and trended No.1 on Twitter. This year Giving Tuesday will be taking place on 28 November, and we hope you will be able to join in this year’s campaign and can try to raise even more.
Back in 2022 we hosted the first post-pandemic in-person Fundraising Convention by welcoming over 1,600 delegates from across the UK and overseas to the Barbican for three days of learning, development, inspiration, and support. As you will have seen from the film, we opened today’s AGM with, Convention was back again in July – at our new venue of the QEII Centre in Westminster – and if your experience was like the one I had, it was the best one yet. It was great to be with you all at Convention and at the Scottish Conference a few weeks ago.
It has been so good seeing Remember A Charity continue to grow legacy income through tangible increases in awareness and behaviour change from the public and the week before last saw us celebrate another successful Remember A Charity week.
Across the Chartered Institute we have continued to develop fundraising skills and knowledge through high quality learning and qualifications through the Academy – which delivered training to 1,419 fundraisers in 2022 – and through the excellent conferences, events and networking delivered by our national, regional and special interest groups. And I would like to personally thank all the volunteers who dedicate so much time to providing such excellent peer support to the fundraising community across the UK.
During 2022 we became ever more mindful of the impact of the cost of living on fundraising and giving and curated a ‘Cost of Living Hub’ on our website to help our members access the research, trends, and case studies which helped to inform their strategies and activity. This was supported with a range of accessible online webinars, done in partnership with a range of organisations, to share insight and hear from experts across the sector. With our ‘Yearbook’ collection of expert articles and resources we provided members with a range of insight and thought leadership to help us all plan future strategies.
From a personal perspective it was an honour for me to be Chair of the Chartered Institute of Fundraising during this, our 40th anniversary, and it was a joy to celebrate the last four decades with so many at Convention.
Since becoming a Trustee, and before that as part of the volunteer committee in Northern Ireland, I have seen first-hand the difference that professional development and connecting with fundraisers can make, both to help us develop our fundraising skills as individuals and to the end cause and beneficiary. Seeing the value of what the Chartered Institute achieves with our members has reinforced my commitment to respond to the challenges that we’ve faced as an organisation over the recent period and ensure we move forward in the right way for the benefit of all of the fundraising community. I have learned a lot through being part of the Chartered Institute and it has been a privilege to be on the Board of my professional membership body and work with so many talented and committed fundraisers across the UK. I am really pleased to continue to be a part of it.
Our current Safeguarding Trustee, Isobel Michael, has come to the end of her second term of office. I would like to take a moment to thank Isobel on behalf of us all for her work and commitment over the past years and for her integrity and determination to ensure change happens. Isobel has been a volunteer in the southwest, launched mentoring programmes and has dedicated so much time to the Institute so a big thank you to her for all her work.
Delighted to welcome Ngozi Cadmus who joins as our new Safeguarding and Whistleblowing Trustee. This role ensures that we always have always have appropriate representation and expertise at Board level. A psychotherapist and an approved mental health practitioner, Ngozi is social worker and business strategist. She is a leading voice in championing the mental health needs of the black and minority ethnic community.
Thank you for joining us today and for bearing with us with those technical problems at the start of the meeting.
4. TREASURER’S REPORT AND THE REPORT & ACCOUNTS TO 31 DECEMBER 2021
The Honorary Treasurer presented the accounts for the period 1 January to 31 December 2022, the Chartered Institute’s current position, and the financial outlook ahead.
The following key points were noted:
2022 was the year we started to return to normal activities again holding our first in-person events following COVID. Although we retained an element of caution as we learned how willing everyone was to return.
Income grew to £4.2m up £0.3m on 2021. This included income of £1.3m for training and events including the sold-out Annual Fundraising Convention. Growth in income is still down on the income we saw pre-covid March 2019.
The level of uncertainty meant that we continued to carefully manage our expenditure and incurred total expenditure of £4.4m in the year. We therefore ended the year with a deficit of £243k.
Despite the deficit budget we had a positive cash movement in the year of £440k. This was in part due our improving debtors position and also due to us taking out a loan during the year.
Our balance sheet shows we held total net assets of £622k on 31 December 2022. However, our free unrestricted reserves were in deficit at £154k.
Our reserves policy states we should hold a minimum of £300k free unrestricted reserves and we are budgeting to generate surpluses in future in order to rebuild our reserves.
Separate to our unrestricted reserves we held designated reserves, funds allocated to offset of the depreciation charge for the CRM/website and also funds held by our volunteer groups.
We also held restricted funds at the end of the year, which represents money received in advance for specific projects.
In 2023, steps were taken to remodel the organisation and remove the ongoing deficit. Congratulations to the management team as that has been successfully done and are building a surplus. Costs have been reduced and income has grown so the reserves are in a healthier position.
5. TO APPROVE THE APPOINTMENT OF AUDITORS
Members were invited to confirm the appointment of Buzzacott LLP again as auditors for 2023, and to delegate their remuneration to the Trustees.
The membership voted and unanimously agreed.
6. REPORT FROM THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE
Thank you to Nadine, Rohan, and the rest of the trustee board for you work, guidance and support. And also thank you to the staff team, and of course our members, many of you who I’ve had the privilege to meet in forums, roundtables, or events, and the many of you that I am yet to meet! We are your institute, and it’s a pleasure to be working with you.
I would also like to say a big thank you to all of our volunteers, our regional, national and special interest groups, and our committees. You are amazing and I thank you for your passion to share and how generous you are with your time and knowledge to support and inspire your colleagues.
That is a really appropriate context and background for me to update you today on our work to support you.
Our mission is to champion, represent and support Career fundraisers to thrive in the ever-evolving fundraising landscape. And we exist in a changing and competitive environment. So, we need to be responsive to changing demands and we need to meet your needs.
We have made some changes to our staff structure to ensure that we are agile, flexible, and totally focussed on our members and delivering member value. An example of this is that we are shaping out a new Member Services Hub to support you. This will give you a one-stop-shop point of entry to accessing our services and booking onto events and training.
We have a focus on growing giving. With Remember A Charity, and as of last year Giving Tuesday, we are working to promote and champion charitable giving. Our new project on Growing Giving started this year and will continue with research, policy, and thought leadership to look at how we can work to arrest the trend of fewer people giving to charity.
Recruitment and retention are a problem throughout our sector from the very smallest organisation to the very largest charities. Research carried out on behalf of Revolutionise by Professor Adrian Sargent and Dr Kathryn Edworthy tell us that nearly half of fundraisers plan to leave their job within the next 2 years and nearly 1 in 10 plan to leave the profession. Why? We need to be closely connected to our cause – we need a belief in the mission and the organisation, we need professional respect – without it morale plummets, and we need to feel that we are achieving as well as contributing. So, this challenge of recruitment and retention needs to be tackled head on and our new taskforce chaired by Harpreet Kondel has begun work on this. We’ve recently launched a resource about Investing in Fundraising to support Career Fundraisers and boards of Trustees to understand the fundamental importance of investing in fundraising and fundraisers.
Our work on Professional Conduct for the Chartered Institute of Fundraising and the fundraising community continues. We have been doing the right things, in the right way – preparing the ground and getting ready to bring in important updates and involve new people on our shared vision for a safe and supportive environment for fundraising. We have established our new Professional Conduct Committee. This committee will embed and take forward our work in this area. The Committee formed of members and experts who will work with us on a long-term basis for continued improvement and change across the fundraising community. It will lead and advise the Chartered Institute’s approach to embedding professional standards across our membership, as well as ensure that people involved in the complaints and disciplinary process are treated fairly and are properly supported.
This week is National Inclusion Week, and we have been sharing updates and perspectives from our diverse community of fundraisers throughout the week.
Equity, diversity and inclusion is central to our new strategy, pillar 3 of that strategy states that we will advocate for and advance Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion – across the sector, as a membership organisation, and as an employer.
As an organisation we are striving to
- Embrace and champion equity, diversity and inclusion within CIOF, working towards being an exemplar of success within our own staff and volunteering team.
- Work with our members to champion, challenge, and improve EDI across the fundraising community.
- Advocate for and advance sector-wide initiatives which improves the culture of fundraising and promotes fundraising as a career.
As CEO, I’m clear that our EDI work is an ongoing journey and not a destination.
We have experienced internal resource, that enables us to support staff and volunteers across equity, diversity, inclusion and safeguarding. In addition, we are delighted that we have an Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee with some new diverse perspectives that will enrich our work in this area. These members bring a collection of lived and professional experience and a desire to deliver meaningful change. They are helping us to ensure that whilst we need to consider the needs and approaches around specific protected characteristics, there is also a need to view EDI through a broad intersectional lens, including but not limited to race and ethnicity, disability, sexuality and the neurodiversity.
In our last update, we explained that the Independent Reviewers had completed the main phase of the work through a wide range of interviews, reviewing as well as analysis and consideration of all the evidence. The Independent Reviewers are now going through a final stage of necessary due diligence and, while this is being done as swiftly as possible, we understand that it will still be several weeks before their findings can be published. It is very important that this appropriate independent process is completed in the correct manner and is as thorough as possible.
The independent reviewers will present their analysis and findings to the independent Working Group members and the Board of Trustees, and the findings, learnings and recommendations will then be shared with those involved, members, and published on the CIOF website.
If you would like to raise an issue, submit feedback or register a complaint anonymously, you can do this at any time through our confidential reporting tool, Talk to Spot (link will be added in the chat).
I spoke earlier about our mission which is to celebrate, champion, and support Career fundraisers to thrive in the ever-evolving fundraising landscape.
The difference that you make, and the importance of the money you raise for good causes, beneficiaries, and the services in the UK and across the whole world should never be underestimated.
It can be, unfortunately, sometimes underappreciated - both within our sector and without. So let me say plainly and with complete conviction: you matter, your work is extraordinary, and when you succeed everyone benefits.
We believe when much more money is raised, a better world can be made, and that fundraising is not only a necessity, but at its heart is fundamentally good for everyone.
Career fundraisers – those who bring such high levels of commitment, skills, and motivation day in day out – deliver the best return on investment, and have a lifetime of impact.
We did not have any elections this year to the board of trustees but have been pleased to co-opt two new trustees as previously mentioned.
Harpreet Kondell, Chair of the Fundraising Talent Working Group joins the board along with our new Safeguarding Trustee, Ngozi Cadmus.
Congratulations to you both, I’m looking forward to working with you. It’s a great time to be joining and I’m excited about the future of the organisation.
Thank you and we will be pleased to answer any questions relating to our work.
ANY OTHER BUSINESS
Q1 What is the minimum amount we require as per the Reserves Policy?
The Reserves Policy states we should have a minimum of £300,000 in reserves and at the end of last year we were short of that amount. We are working at building up the reserves position.
Q2 How do you envisage working with groups will help?
We have just spent 5 months in a deep engagement exercise with our volunteers conducting surveys with individual members, surveys with the groups and well as more recently roundtables with Chairs. Had constructive feedback for changes we can make and new ideas. Will be developing a working plan over the next several weeks which will be shared back to groups before implementing that in 2024. The primary purpose for this is strategically driven not financial.
There being no further business, the Chair thanked everyone for attending and declared the Annual General Meeting of the Chartered Institute of Fundraising closed.
Meeting closed at 11:10