Fundraising associations agree merger

The UK’s Institute of Fundraising (IoF) and Public Fundraising Association (PFRA) have  agreed the merger of the two associations to form one membership body for fundraisers in the UK

The merger has been agreed by both as ‘in the best interests of the fundraising community’ and will provide a range of new compliance services and support for the whole membership, as well as investment in the IoF’s role as the voice of the fundraising community.

July completion date

A final decision to ratify the merger agreement will take place at the PFRA’s AGM on 15 June, with the merger due to be completed by 31 July.

A full consultation launches next month, and a series of ‘Question and Answer’ sessions has been scheduled to allow PFRA members to discuss the proposal with trustees of the IoF and directors of the PFRA.

There will be no redundancies under the merger. The current chief executive of the PFRA, Peter Hills-Jones, will become director of fundraising compliance within the Institute of Fundraising. Staff currently employed by the PFRA will become the Fundraising Compliance Directorate.

Key points of merger

The IoF will also create three new sub-committees of the main Board of Trustees following the merger: Door-to-Door Fundraising; Street and Private Site Fundraising; and Telephone Compliance. Existing PFRA Directors will sit on the committee most closely related to their role and expertise, with the committee chairs to be selected by the IoF and PFRA. In addition, Dominic Will, Managing Director of Home Fundraising, has been appointed as an IoF Trustee, bringing face-to-face agency expertise to the Board.

The reserves and assets of the PFRA will be transferred to the IoF, and will be ring-fenced under a three year agreement ending 31 July 2019, and used by the IoF for the purposes of supporting and furthering compliance in public fundraising.

Richard Taylor, chair of the Institute of Fundraising said:

“The PFRA has achieved a huge amount since it was formed and was rightly credited during last year’s inquiries as being at the forefront of improving fundraising standards. That’s why we at the IoF are so excited to be moving towards a merger and are confident that this will ensure we have a single membership body driving best practice and speaking with one voice.”

Paul Stallard, chair of the PFRA added:

“Our Board have rightly recognised the huge opportunities this merger presents to expand our compliance work into new forms of fundraising. We have worked hard over the last decade to strengthen street and door-to-door fundraising and we are now going one step further. The events of last year showed there can be no gaps in self-regulation if we are to preserve public trust, so I strongly believe this merger will provide an excellent platform to help our members deliver even higher standards of fundraising.”