The Institute of Fundraising (IoF) plans to promote giving as part of its new five-year strategic plan but will not include donors in its research to find out what more it could do. It will focus on a consultation with members.

A spokeswoman said: “We do see a role for the Institute in helping to increase giving more widely by equipping fundraisers to make the ask from donors in the best way possible, and we would like to see donors in the UK giving to their full potential.”

 “Clearly understanding donor behaviour and maintaining close relationships with these key stakeholders is integral to the work of all fundraisers and is an ongoing dialogue to be maintained.

She added: “We are in the middle of one of the toughest recessions in UK history. Every charitable organisation is doing all that it can to raise vital funds and fundraisers are being put under ever increasing pressure to deliver. We are consulting with our members to see where they think we should be expending our efforts in order to help them fundraise better for good causes.”

The consultation will last until March this year. The proposed objectives focus on the following three areas:

·        creating a better environment for fundraising,

·        improving understanding of fundraising

·        enabling individual fundraisers to be “the best they can be”

The focus on promoting giving  is a move away from its previous strategy which focused more on standard setting and promoting good practice.

Researcher at Kent University’s centre for the study of philanthropy Dr Beth Breeze said: “Whilst philanthropy is driven by many internal impulses - such as a desire to alleviate suffering or to give back to a community - translating that impulse into action usually occurs as a result of the efforts of fundraisers, who help donors to understand needs and make it simple and pleasurable to respond to them. 

She added: “There is now a general commitment to the idea of building a better culture of giving in the UK, but that ambition will only be realised once we have a better culture of asking, which means everyone in the philanthropic sector has a vested interest in supporting the UK fundraising profession."

Last year a report by the Funding Commission suggested that individual giving can be increased from £11.3 bn to £20 bn by 2020 through increased donor engagement, better fundraising approaches and via a 'Better Asking' Campaign, developed by NCVO in partnership with the Institute of Fundraising and other sector bodies.

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New report sets out 2020 vision to almost double individual philanthropy