Your value – to your organisations, to each other, and to the causes and beneficiaries that you work for – must be at the heart of your professional body, and it is that value that is the cornerstone of the Chartered Institute’s new organisational strategy for 2023-25 which I am really excited, proud - and perhaps even a little daunted – to have launched.
Working with Chartered Institute members, volunteers, trustees, and staff we have heard from hundreds of people about your views and what you want from your Chartered Institute. Over an almost year-long process of discussions and consultation that informed and challenged our thinking we have been able to honestly reflect about our way forward. What came out most strongly for me as we brought this strategy together, was the strength of feeling that the most important thing was not just what we do, but who we are, how we hold ourselves out and deliver on our objectives, and perhaps most central of all why we exist and still need to be here.
I truly believe that it is the way that we have and continue to address and answers those questions (the who, how, and why) that will make this new strategy a success. From my experience, the most valuable parts of an organisational strategy are the bringing together of colleagues to spark the discussions which determine the ambitions, and then the meaningful actions that are taken collaboratively to meet them. The strategy document is the thing that gets us from the former to the latter, but it’s the how we do that together with our members that I am so enthusiastic to be a part of.
I also acknowledge and recognise that for the Chartered Institute our ‘how’ needs to be different in the future, to best work in partnership with our members so that we can achieve our strategic priorities together. So alongside our three key objectives, I am setting out a member pledge as part of this new strategy which sets out how we will work collaboratively with you, our members. We will put you first, respect your views and priorities, be honest and accountable on our decisions, equal and inclusive in our approach, and proud and ambitious of you and your work.
Publishing a new strategy also gives us an opportunity to nail our colours to the mast, and outline some of the tangible plans and initiatives that we will take forward to make the strategy real. These include (but are not limited to):
Our new strategy is due to formally take effect in January 2023, but of course work has already started and is underway in so many areas. We are putting on our first online Fundraising Festival this December and also partnering with the Directory of Social Change to source funding for a new research project exploring the extent and types of sexual harassment experienced by fundraisers.
There is lots to be done. Our new strategy is ambitious, and we know that our members are keen to see real progress to achieve the things they care about. I am confident that with all parts of our organisation working together - our individual members, charity members, and corporate partners; our volunteers and committee members; our staff and Board – we will take fundraising. We will recognise and celebrate the unique contribution you make to your cause and society, and be the professional body that takes immense pride in fundraising and fundraisers, and which you continue to be proud to be part of.