1. Have the discussion at board level​
2. Think seriously and strategically about divesting from fossil fuels (including in pension fund investments)
3. Understand and measure your organisational carbon footprint
4. Set targets for reducing your carbon footprint (travel, energy, waste, carbon, etc.)
5. Publicly acknowledge the climate emergency and the action your charity is taking
6. Assess your gift/donation acceptance policy with environmental factors in mind

The climate emergency is far bigger than fundraising, but our actions contribute to the carbon footprints of the charities we work for, in the same way that making changes to our choices and internal influencing can reduce said impact.

Not all charities will be able to do everything – all face internal barriers and competing priorities. But putting the charity and mission first, and trying to reduce our environmental impact, are not mutually exclusive; instead, they can be coherent and complementary. It doesn’t have to be a choice between one or the other.

Everyone can make change. This could be inside your organisation by promoting an environmental agenda, or externally by adjusting your fundraising practices. As an employee in a charity you can be an advocate on the inside that can constructively challenge business-as-usual.

This toolkit is for all fundraisers, whether you:

• know a little, a lot, or nothing at all about the climate emergency;
• aren’t sure how climate change affects you and your work, or how you and your work can affect climate change;
• have been struggling to start a conversation at your organisation about the climate emergency;
• are already making change but want to do more.

We hope that if the environment hasn’t been a part of your thinking or that of your charity, this guide will help to develop a mindset that considers the environment in everyday professional choices and actions, and offers a direction of travel to charities.

This guide will provide tools and tips to raise this issue inside your own charity as well as advice on the changes you can make in your own work as a fundraiser. It aims to increase awareness about the role charities can play in tackling the climate emergency and encourage individual actions in fundraisers’ professional lives to help mobilise change inside charities.