Rogare - The Fundraising Think Tank

Yesterday we launched our new paper – ‘Take it leave it: The ethics of gift acceptance and refusal’ – produced with Chartered Institute of Fundraising as a companion paper to CIoF’s guidance on writing gift acceptance/refusal polices. If you’re wondering why we need guidance on the ethics of refusing donations when we already have guidance on writing those policies, polices designed to tell us when we should refuse donations, it’s because the policy doesn’t ‘tell’ you to do anything. A policy is just guidance to help fundraisers make the right decisions. But sometimes following the policy will lead to the wrong (i.e. unethical) decision – as illustrated by the case study recounted by Damian C. at yesterday’s webinar hosted by CIoF. Our central contention in the paper is that refusing a donation because the donor is out of line with a charity’s values is not the best or most consistent way to make decisions about refusing gifts, and could even leave charities open to accusations of moral hypocrisy. Instead, we recommend basing decisions on whether there is a likelihood of harm to the charity were the donation to be accepted. And further, we think that any refusal decision based on values would give the same outcome (i.e. a refusal) if you based it on harm instead. That’s because if a donor is so out of line with a charity’s values, then accepting donations from them is almost certain to result in harm. We’re not saying values aren’t important or don’t have a role to play; just that they may not be as important as we might have assumed them to be. Thanks to CIoF for hosting the webinar, to Damian Chapman and Claire Stanley for taking part in the discussion, and to all who attended. You can download the paper from our website at www/https://lnkd.in/eV5PYiyH

How relevant do you consider alignment between a donor/donation and a charity’s values to be in deciding whether to accept or refuse the donation? We contend not very important, since most – probably the vast majority – of decisions to refuse a donation based on values alignment can also be based on whether accepting the donation is likely to result in harm to the charity or its service users. That’s because if a donor/donation is SO out of line with a charity’s values, then it is almost certain to result in some kind of harm, such as other donors stopping their giving, or beneficiaries being less likely to give. However, it just seems so counter-intuitive that values would not be relevant to the ethics of gift acceptance/refusal, doesn’t it? If you disagree with what we’re saying, and think values have a role to play – and indeed may be central to the ethics of this matter – perhaps you’d like to join next week’s webinar, at which we’ll be unveiling our new ideas on ethics of acceptance/refusal. Hosted by Chartered Institute of Fundraising, there will be a discussion with Damian C., Claire Stanley, Ian MacQuillin MCIOF(Dip), Ceri Edwards. And perhaps you? The webinar is on Wednesday 6 November between 5 and 6 GMT. If interested, you can register here - https://lnkd.in/eRKKBCDu

We're launching a major new piece of work on the ethics of gift acceptance/refusal at a webinar hosted by Chartered Institute of Fundraising on Wednesday 6 November, 4-5pm. We'll briefly introduce the ideas explored in the new paper, which is a companion to the CIoF's guidance on creating acceptance/refusal policies. After that there will a discussion of these ideas with Damian C., Ian MacQuillin MCIOF(Dip), Ceri Edwards, Claire Stanley (and someone else TBC). More details and link to register for the webinar in the article, or if you are already persuaded this is something for you, here's the registration link – https://lnkd.in/emWTWU2w

We have updated our Rethinking Fundraising Ethics paper, which details all the work Rogare - The Fundraising Think Tank has done in the realm of the ethics of fundraising. First published in 2021, the new version contains sections on the ethical implications of using AI in fundraising and potted details of all the papers contained in the Journal of Philanthropy and Marketing special issue on normative fundraising ethics, as well as updates to all our other projects on ethics. You can download the updated paper – optimised for view on a desktop or tablet, or for home/office printing – from the publications page on our website: https://lnkd.in/drAQaCYh (scroll down to the ethics section). We have a few hard copy versions, thanks to Precision Fundraising, who printed these for inclusion in the delegate pack of the Fundraising Nest events in Auckland and Melbourne last month – at which Rogare director Ian MacQuillin MCIOF(Dip) presented on ethics.

Here's an interview Fundraising Nest's Michelle Berriman did with Ian MacQuillin MCIOF(Dip) ahead of his visit to Australia and New Zealand to speak at two Nest events. If you're not interested in what he has to say, you might like to meet his cat, Stellar (sound only in the video but photo in the comments).

Two members of Rogare’s Critical Fundraising Network – Claire Routley and Ruth Smyth – have set up a fundraising book club to delve into the books that are, as Claire says, “relevant to fundraising although not always explicitly or obviously about fundraising, and discuss them with people who are interested in and open to how they might feed into fundraising practice”. The first book selected for discussion is Using Semiotics in Marketing: How to Achieve Consumer Insight for Brand Growth and Profits, by Dr Rachel Lawes. The meeting twill take place on 17 October and 6pm BST (5pm GMT). Fundraisers from outside the UK are very welcome to join the book club and the timing has been sent to make it convenient for fundraisers in Europe and North America. Anyone interested in attending the book club’s first meeting on 17 October should contact Claire via LinkedIn, or drop her an email. There aren’t currently any club rules about how often it will meet, and both Claire and Ruth say they want to keep it “loose” so that it “doesn’t become too onerous or that people feel they are only reading it to get it done for the book club”. The thinking is that the club may meet every three months, but once it is up and running, Claire and Ruth want to agree some principles with the club’s members. Using Semiotics in Marketing: How to Achieve Consumer Insight for Brand Growth and Profits, by Dr Rachel Lawes costs £29.99 new. It is available from publisher Kogan Page here – https://lnkd.in/eiUxyDWd And can also be obtained from Amazon for a few pounds cheaper. https://lnkd.in/esYXxdat

Fundraising ethics is important. It is often treated with lip service or deep misunderstanding. Rogare, led by Ian MacQuillin MCIOF(Dip) is at the forefront to understanding and applying fundraising ethics globally. It is a great privilege for Giving Architects to be an Associate Member of Rogare and an even bigger privilege to be partnering with Rogare - The Fundraising Think Tank, joined by Educate Plus and Precision Group, to bring the education sector in Australia and New Zealand this innovative research project. It will equip schools and their fundraisers with knowledge and tools to effectively traverse ethical dilemmas.

We set this live midnight UK time, since this was early morning in Australia and New Zealand where this project is being undertaken. So possibly if you are in the Northern Hemisphere you might have missed our announcement.