IoF launches toolkit to help charities speak out during General Election

The Institute of Fundraising has produced a new toolkit and guidance for its members on how to contact candidates during the run up to the General Election. Speaking Up for Charity Fundraising: A Toolkit provides tips on what to say, and is part of the IoF’s General Election campaign, which urges the fundraising community to contact their local candidates to support and champion charity fundraising. The IoF hopes that by asking charity fundraisers to contact candidates in their constituencies and highlight their work, politicians from all parties will become more engaged with the sector and the role fundraising plays. In particular, IoF is asking its members to highlight ways their candidates can get involved in their local areas and nationally in Parliament, such as through supporting local fundraising, engaging with regional IoF groups, and by attending IoF events across the country. IoF chief executive Peter Lewis has also written an open letter to all party leaders urging them to support fundraising in the next Parliament. In it, he specifically calls for more to be done to sustain smaller charity fundraising and to help expand legacy giving. In addition, the IoF has produced a new General Election briefing Supporting Charity Fundraising: General Election 2017. This will form the basis of the IoF’s engagement with parliamentarians after the election and outlines specific ways MPs and the next government can support fundraising in the new parliament. The IoF’s briefing, toolkit, and open letter can be downloaded from the IoF’s website. Mike Smith, head of external affairs at the IoF, said: “Fundraising is a vital profession – raising nearly £10billion every year for good causes that everyone benefits from - and this campaign is all about making sure that candidates from all parties know about this. "At election time the best way to reach politicians is locally in their constituencies and so we are delighted to be asking our members today to join us in speaking up for fundraising. We hope that this will make sure that those elected on 8th June know a bit more about our members and their work, and are even more ready to support and celebrate excellent fundraising.”

from UK Fundraising http://ift.tt/2pNUaaV