To enable career fundraisers to stand out and be acknowledged on par with peers from other professions, the Chartered Institute of Fundraising is working towards being able to award individual fundraisers with chartered status.
At the AGM in September 2026, we will be inviting individual members of the Chartered Institute to vote on whether we should be able to award people with Chartered Fundraiser status.
Between now and the vote, we are encouraging fundraisers to find out what Chartering means, how it can support your career and why it will be good for the whole fundraising profession.
Find out what you need to do between now and September 2026 and don't forget if you want to take part in the vote, or work towards becoming a Chartered Fundraiser, you'll need to join as an individual member.
You can find out more about why we think this is a good move and what will happen next.
Find out what Chartering means and how you can get involved.
Professional fundraisers throughout the UK are delivering excellent, high quality, legally sound work that is helping to drive forward to profession and to create real impacts for the charities they work for.
Fundraisers are influencing strategic decisions, are delivering impact, and are constantly evolving their outputs to meet the changing needs of society. The standards that professional fundraisers work to are high, and they deserve to be recognised in a way that demonstrates their level of influence and experience.
To enable career fundraisers to stand out and be acknowledged on par with peers from other professions, the Chartered Institute of Fundraising is working towards being able to award individual fundraisers with chartered status.
The Chartered Institute will ask its members to vote on a motion to change the Chartered Institute’s by-laws, which would allow it to confer chartership on individual fundraisers.
A vote will take place, which – if backed by members – will kick off the process of planning to charter individual fundraisers.
Becoming a Chartered Fundraiser will help professionals to showcase their expertise, stand out from the crowd and develop their careers.
What does chartering mean?
A chartered professional is someone who has achieved a high level of skill or competence in a specific field of work and has been recognised by a professional organisation that awards a formal credential.
There are many different types of chartered professionals, such as chartered architects, chartered accountants, and chartered directors.
The Chartered Institute wants to move to being able to award people individual chartered status. Chartering individuals reflects the professionalism of the fundraising sector, putting them on par with other chartered professionals and helping the people to value fundraising as a trusted profession.
By chartering individual fundraisers, the Chartered Institute will be helping to elevate the profession of fundraising. Chartering will help to:
- Strengthen public confidence in fundraising
- Secure the profession’s future
- Attract and retain talent
- Develop forward-thinking leaders .
Why would someone want to become chartered?
There are many reasons why someone might want to become a Chartered Fundraiser. Being a chartered professional has recognisable benefits such as career advancement, recognition, and commitment to ethical standards.
Becoming a Chartered Fundraiser can enhance your professional credibility, opening doors to new opportunities.
It demonstrates a commitment to high standards and ethical fundraising practices, showcasing your expertise to employers and clients.
Additionally, it provides access to a network of professionals, continuous learning opportunities, and a competitive edge in the dynamic field of fundraising.
We understand that not everyone will want to work towards chartership, and you are still a welcome member with valued experience and expertise, and you will still have access to all your member benefits, training, support, guidance, networking opportunities and the MyCareer platform.
General Chartering FAQs
A chartered professional is an individual who has earned a chartered status in a specific profession, signifying a high level of expertise, competence, and ethical standards. Chartered status is typically awarded by a professional body or regulatory authority.
For fundraisers, it would mean that you have achieved a high level of expertise, competence and ethical standards in fundraising, and that the Chartered Institute of Fundraising has recognised that skill by awarding you the status of Chartered Fundraiser – something that only the Chartered Institute of Fundraising will be able to award to fundraisers.
Being a chartered professional has recognisable benefits such as career advancement, recognition, and commitment to ethical standards.
Becoming a Chartered Fundraiser can enhance your professional credibility, opening doors to new opportunities.
It demonstrates a commitment to high standards and ethical fundraising practices, showcasing your expertise to employers and clients.
Additionally, it provides access to a network of professionals, continuous learning opportunities, and a competitive edge in the dynamic field of fundraising.
In September 2026 there will be a motion proposed at the Chartered Institute’s AGM, which members will be asked to vote in favour of or against. The AGM will take place virtually, so members who wish to attend and take part in the vote will need to register for the event in advance and join the event online.
There are many factors that impact employability but we believe that being a Chartered Fundraiser will help to elevate your skills and experience and help you stand out.
It demonstrates a commitment to high standards and ethical fundraising practices, showcasing your expertise to employers and clients.
Additionally, it provides access to a network of professionals, continuous learning opportunities, and a competitive edge in the dynamic field of fundraising.
Not all fundraisers will want to work towards being a Chartered Fundraiser and for those who don’t wish to, there are plenty of other ways to develop your career, insight and knowledge of fundraising.
The Chartered Institute is working with the sector on ways to widen access to fundraising careers, to retain the talent already working in the sector, and to attract the next generation of talented fundraisers.
As a member of the Chartered Institute, you are demonstrating a commitment to high levels of fundraising practice – which employers value. Any qualifications you have in fundraising will still be recognised by employers in the sector. Members who don’t want to work towards chartering will still have access to resources, guidance, training, webinars and more to support your career.
Chartering Process FAQs
You will be able to refer to yourself as a Chartered Fundraiser, and you’ll be able to use specific post-nominals. You’ll receive a certificate annually if you continue to maintain your Chartered Fundraiser status. All members will be able to continue using MCIOF after their name, Chartered Fundraisers will be able to use a different version of this.
After gaining chartered status, you will be expected to maintain an online record of annual training and development that you have undertaken, which the Chartered Institute will review. If your training and development is sufficient then you’ll be able to retain your Chartered Fundraiser status.
Chartering and membership of the Chartered Institute
All individual members of the Chartered Institute are welcome to work towards gaining Chartered Fundraiser status. You must be a member of the Chartered Institute to work towards chartering, but not all members will want to do so, and being a member alone is not enough to be able to be awarded Chartered Fundraiser status.
Yes absolutely. You’ll still get access to all your membership benefits, guidance, resources, webinars, etc. If you decide later that you would like to work towards being a Chartered Fundraiser, that’s fine too.
Yes, only individual members of the Chartered Institute of Fundraising will be able to work towards becoming a Chartered Fundraiser.