The Institute of Fundraising (IoF) Scotland has launched its own survey after ‘varying’ reviews north and south of the border

Scotland’s professional membership body for fundraisers has launched its own survey into the self-regulation of charity fundraising.

The Institute of Fundraising (IoF) Scotland is seeking its members’ views following reviews by the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) and Sir Stuart Etherington of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO).

Fraser Hudghton, Scotland manager for the IoF, said the purpose of its survey was to find out what its members’ preferences are for how fundraising governance will work after the reviews north and south of the border reported back with varying conclusions.

Fundraisers are the experts and we can’t have the wider voluntary sector or government alone deciding the future of fundraising regulation without their input

Fraser Hudghton

While Sir Stuart Etherington called for a new fundraising regulator – saying the Fundraising Standards Board (FRSB) wasn’t fit for purpose – the SCVO review concludedself-regulation is still the best way to oversee fundraising in Scotland but added charities must take a lead in designing a new simpler system.

Hudghton said: “This year’s fundraising reviews have highlighted as an urgency the need for fundraisers to re-engage with how the sector is governed.

“In Scotland with a separate review reporting back with varying conclusions from that south of the border, we want to know our members’ particular preferences for how fundraising governance will work.

“Fundraisers are the experts and we can’t have the wider voluntary sector or government alone deciding the future of fundraising regulation without their input.”

Questions in the survey, which closes on 23 November, seek out respondents' thoughts on establishing a single UK wide fundraising regulator, establishing a fundraising preference service and asks what measures should be taken to ensure donors and the public are sufficiently confident in charity fundraising activities in Scotland.

Hudghton added: “With this survey I am hopeful our members will engage fully and help create a charity fundraising landscape which meets their needs and bolsters public trust in fundraising once more.”

Iof Scotland members can take the survey online via Survey Monkey.