We are delighted to announce Valerie Surgenor has been appointed as the new Chair of the Independent Fundraising Standards & Adjudication Panel for Scotland. She takes over from Alison Elliot who stepped down at the quarterly Panel meeting which took place on the 30^th January 2018, and Val was unanimously elected as Chair by the Panel at the same meeting.

Val has been a valued member of the Panel during its first year, and prior to that chaired the Implementation Group tasked with establishment of the Panel.

A partner at MacRoberts LLP, where she heads up the firm’s Charities and Third Sector Practice and specialises in data protection, technology and intellectual property law. Val is also Chair of the board of Aberlour Child Care Trust and prior to becoming a solicitor she worked for over 12 years in the Third Sector in the area of longer term homelessness and addictions. You can find her on twitter here and LinkedIn here.

Our sincere thanks go to Alison Elliot for her dedication and excellent work in leading the Panel through its first year, and we wish her all the best for the future.

We are also delighted to announce the appointment of Kirsty Connell-Skinner, Katie Bruce, Matthew Middler and John Downie as new Panel members. Cathy Bell, Sheila Logan and Jay Butler stood down and we would like to thank them each for their valuable input to the Panel over the last year.

We are delighted to have appointed four new members to the Scottish Fundraising Standards Panel, who will formally begin their terms on the Panel as of 30^th January 2018.

We aim to ensure that Panel members bring with them a specific understanding of the main aspects of fundraising, and we are very happy to introduce new Panel members with such varied experience.

Our incoming Panel members are:

John Downie, Director of Public Affairs at SCVO

John brings with him an extensive knowledge of Third Sector issues in Scotland, as well as an interest in Strategy. The Panel will benefit from both his professional and voluntary experience.

Matthew Middler, Fundraiser at RCET

Matthew is a great fit for the Panel due to his understanding of the challenges that face small charities and his experience in digital marketing.

Katie Bruce, Area Fundraiser for West Scotland at MS Society

As a community fundraiser at a cross-border organisation, Katie’s appointment will bring valuable experience of the associated issues.

Kirsty Connell-Skinner, Development Manager at University of Strathclyde

Kirsty’s experience of working in Universities and with major donors will be beneficial to the Panel, alongside her involvement in the sector as a Trustee.

Many thanks to all who put their names forward, and best of luck to John, Matthew, Katie and Kirsty during their time on the Panel. We are extremely grateful to the Panel members who are stepping down for their hard work over the past year.

Would you like to join the Scottish Fundraising Standards Panel?

Continue reading We are looking for new Panel members →

We have signed a new Memorandum of Understanding with the Institute of Fundraising.

Continue reading MoU Agreed with the Institute of Fundraising →

Have your say on fundraising regulation in Scotland!

Continue reading Review of Fundraising Regulation in Scotland →

We have signed a new Memorandum of Understanding with the Fundraising Regulator.

Continue reading MoU Agreed with the Fundraising Regulator →

In today’s post, read some final quotes from charities who have signed up to the Fundraising Guarantee. If you’d like to sign up, you can apply here.
Continue reading Fundraising Guarantee Quotes continued →

In our previous post on the Fundraising Guarantee, we included quotes from some of the charities that had already signed up.

Continue reading More Quotes for the Fundraising Guarantee →

If you’re interested in finding out more about the Panel and meeting some of the Panel members, here is a list of the events we are attending this year. We hope to see you there!

Continue reading Events →