INDIANAPOLIS—The United Kingdom has adopted national fundraising standards developed by international fundraising expert Adrian Sargeant and an advisory group of senior UK fundraising professionals. Sargeant is the Robert F. Hartsook Chair in Fundraising at the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University.

UK Workforce Hub commissioned Sargeant to write the Fundraising National Occupational Standards, which were recently approved by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills. They specify the standards of performance fundraising professionals should demonstrate and describe the knowledge and skills fundraisers at all levels should have.

Nonprofits will use the standards to guide recruitment, hiring, evaluation and professional development of fundraisers. The standards will help fundraising professionals assess their current abilities, plan their career development and identify resources that can help them acquire the relevant knowledge and skills. Organizations providing fundraising training can benchmark their training to the standards and use them to shape curriculum and syllabi.

The new standards are based on both the best of professional practice and state-of-the-art fundraising research, and go beyond performance guidelines. It is believed to be the first time the body of knowledge fundraisers should have to underpin the development of skills has been delineated, including theories, models, ideas and concepts drawn from the best of the available research informing fundraising practice. Previous standards in both the UK and the US have mapped necessary skills but did not outline the body of knowledge drawn from research that fundraisers need to know.

“Understanding the latest available research on fundraising and incorporating it into fundraisers’ daily work is vital to improving fundraisers’ effectiveness and accountability, and to elevating the profession,” Sargeant said. “The goal is to achieve excellence in fundraising. To do so, it’s important that fundraisers learn from both experienced leaders of the profession and the best of theory and practical research.”

“There is a tremendous and growing wealth of research-based information out there that could be making a real difference in fundraising results, but too many professionals in the UK, the US and elsewhere are not aware of it or using it,” he added. “These standards aim to help address that knowledge gap. They are important in part because they will raise awareness of knowledge that fundraisers didn’t know was available.”

Sargeant noted that while more research with practical applications for fundraisers is available now than ever before, understanding and formal study of fundraising is still in its infancy and much more research is needed. He is working to develop an agenda for fundraising research and invites fundraisers to suggest issues on which they believe research is needed by contacting him at .

The new standards will underpin efforts in self-regulation of fundraising, guided by the Institute of Fundraising in the UK. The institute will also use them to revise its professional certificate in fundraising, which certifies professionals’ knowledge and expertise. This is the second time such standards have been written for UK fundraisers, and it represents a complete revision of the previous version. The standards are available at http://www.ukworkforcehub.org.uk/DisplayPage.asp?pageid=12043.

The Robert F. Hartsook Chair is the first endowed chair in fundraising in the United States. It is dedicated to developing cutting-edge research in fundraising and helping fundraisers apply new knowledge in their professional practice.

In addition to holding the Hartsook Chair at the Center on Philanthropy, Sargeant is a professor of nonprofit marketing in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs (SPEA) and professor of Philanthropic Studies in the IU School of Liberal Arts at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), of which the Center is a part. The position is funded by IUPUI’s Commitment to Excellence initiative, which is designed to improve undergraduate education. Sargeant teaches both graduate and undergraduate courses for SPEA and is a member of faculty of The Fund Raising School at the Center, which teaches the principles of ethical, effective fundraising to more than 8,000 people each year. He is the editor of the International Journal of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Marketing.

The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University is a leading academic center dedicated to increasing the understanding of philanthropy and improving its practice worldwide through research, teaching, public service and public affairs programs in philanthropy, fundraising, and management of nonprofit organizations. It operates programs on the IUPUI and IU Bloomington campuses.

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