Please note: This page contains mention of sexual harassment.
The Chartered Institute of Fundraising is a membership organisation and the professional body for fundraisers, working to develop, promote and champion excellence in UK fundraising.
The role of Group Chair holds a particular position of influence and responsibility to represent the Chartered Institute by engaging professionally with staff and volunteer colleagues, members, and the general public.
We are advocates for the Chartered Institute, offering both challenge and support to build and equip the fundraising community.
We have worked closely with the staff team to feedback on the current issues around sexual harassment/safeguarding. We are one community and will work together to build trust. The progress can be seen in the Trustees statement and action plan.
In addition to the commitments already made by the Board of Trustees and staff team, we also wanted to take this moment to apologise for any past mistakes or errors of judgement to date. We want to reinforce our commitments to the safety and wellbeing of Chartered Institute staff, members, event attendees and committee members.
We are supportive of a culture change which will put safety first, and is opposed to any form of harassment, racial discrimination, or abuse.
As Chairs, we commit to the following actions and values:
- We believe complainants if an allegation is made and ensure they know and follow the formal processes to go down to report this.
- We will undertake and apply all safeguarding and other necessary training to equip us in our roles and will direct members of our committees to this too.
- We will take responsibility for ensuring all events and forums have the correct procedures in place to be safe and will ensure committee members also abide by these.
- We will regularly communicate the complaints procedure to our Groups.
- We will ensure that we and our committees abide by the Code of Conduct and Behaviour.
If any individual would prefer to raise a complaint independently of a Chair, you can use our complaints policy. We actively encourage anyone to come forward to report their experience of any inappropriate behaviour by a member of the Chartered Institute or at a Chartered Institute event, no matter when the incident happened. An independent helpline provided by a specialist HR consultancy, provides confidential support for anyone seeking to understand how their complaint to the Chartered Institute will be handled. You can contact them on 0800 689 0843.
We will agree and sign updated volunteer agreements with the Chartered Institute annually, which cover the points raised above. We are an integral part of the Chartered Institute, so during a period of transition (approximately 3 months) we will work alongside colleagues to shape and apply these measures consistently.
We remain passionate about actively building, supporting, and developing the UK’s talented and vibrant community of fundraisers and will contribute to creating a space where each and every one of us can safely work, network, and learn.
Prepared by Chairs in April 2021