Letters ? Raising standards

From Terry O?Sullivan, Open University Business School
Alice Devitt bemoans the lack of investment in arts fundraisers (AP issue 92, 28 February). But the double whammy of skills shortage and minimal support bedevilling this role is not restricted to the arts. Throughout the voluntary and community sector, fundraising is sometimes viewed as a slightly grubby enterprise ? at best distracting from an organisation?s mission, at worst distorting it. It doesn?t have to be like that ? and there is plenty of fundraising activity that not only brings in much-needed resources, but raises awareness and understanding into the bargain. The key is to develop and demonstrate the highest professional and ethical standards. The UK industry lead body, the Institute of Fundraising, offers a competence framework which allows fundraisers to do just that: The Certificate in Fundraising Management (CiFM). There a number of routes to it, including by assessed portfolio, or full- and part-time courses. The most recent option, a distance-learning course developed by the Institute of Fundraising and the Open University Business School with funding from LloydsTSB Foundations, might appeal to hard-pressed arts professionals as it permits candidates to study while working full-time, and integrates their learning directly into professional practice. Qualified fundraisers can expect to get a lot more respect from arts managers who will find that, otherwise, they are rather hard to hang on to!