1. In November 2021, the membership body for UK fundraising, the Chartered Institute of Fundraising (‘CIOF’) put out a proposal for an external consultant to conduct a review into their past processes and procedures in relation to allegations of sexual harassment/assault. These issues had impacted both the CIOF and the fundraising community. Following a tendering process, CIOF instructed JEDI Consultancy to conduct an independent investigation.
2. CIOF had previously conducted an internal investigation and later appointed a third-party HR consultancy, to conduct a Learning Review and subsequently a fact-finding investigation. These processes considered complaints made by a number of individuals, who were current or former staff and/or members of CIOF (referred to in this report as complainants). An Action Plan was produced in response to the recommendations in the Learning Review by the HR consultancy.
3. This Independent Review, carried out by JEDI Consultancy, was intended to review the progress made in terms of the implementation of these recommendations and further, to consider how the CIOF could learn from its past failures in handling such complaints. This would ensure that all those involved with the CIOF were properly safeguarded through appropriate, transparent and accessible complaints handling processes.
The full detailed assessment of the implementation steps taken in relation to each recommendation from the HR consultancy is available in our Action Plan here.