FIA Launches "Tick Of Confidence"

The Fundraising Institute of Australia (FIA) has launched a campaign to alert the public of its code of practice – signifying whether  a charity of choice has the “tick of confidence".

FIA chairman Leo Orland says the FIA’s code of practice – the Principles & Standards of Fundraising Practice – empowers donors.

He says the FIA wants Australians to know they have the power and the right to ask if a charity is a member of their peak body – the FIA.

The code of conduct has been in place for around 18 months, and charities are well aware of it. But the FIA wants the public to know about their right to be reassured their chosen charity is fundraising and managing their funds in a transparent and accountable manner and to ask if their chosen charity and its fundraisers are members of their body and therefore signed up to the charity code of conduct.

Orland says the FIA’s code of practice for charities is really a bill of rights for donors. 

FIA CEO Chris McMillan says the Principles & Standards had been developed in consultation with FIA members and were “very comprehensive”, endeavouring to cover every aspect of fundraising including bequests, telemarketing, direct mail, overseas aid and face-to-face.

She says the FIA constant monitors and updates the code of practice, and are just finalising its guidelines for using social media to fundraise.

McMillan says the FIA was leading the way nationally in creating standards for fundraising practices.

She says the FIA is committed to ensuring the best possible practice by all its members, and urges

non-member charities to come on board and ensure the public has confidence in the sector.

Federal Minister for Social Inclusion, Tanya Plibersek, has welcomed the public launch of the FIA’s Principles & Standards of Fundraising Practice saying Australians are generous when it comes to donating to charities, but they want to be sure their money is doing the maximum good.

Many organisations – including leading charities, CHOICE, the Australian Council for International Development (ACFID) and the Centre for Social Impact – have also swung their combined weight behind the push to heighten public awareness of the FIA’s code of practice for charities.

Macquarie Group Foundation Professor at the Centre for Social Impact and chair of the FIA’s Ethics Committee Professor Peter Shergold  says ethical fundraising is absolutely crucial to public trust in Not for Profit organisations.