Who will look after fundraisers in distress?
Howard Lake | 12 February 2007 | Blogs
Charity staff can spend a lifetime working to help others, often on low salaries and few employment benefits compared to the private sector. But what happens to a fundraiser or other charity employee who is facing financial distress? Who will fundraise for the fundraisers?
Fortunately, like other professions, the charity sector has its own benevolent fund. The Charity Employees Benevolent Fund was set up to provide advice and support for charity employees past and present and their families.
The Fund has a big remit. Over 560,000 people work in charities: the Fund is open not just to them but to anyone who has ever been employed by a charity.
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Each request for help “will be assessed on its own merits”, say the Fund, and it can help with:
- payments for specific purposes to meet urgent needs e.g. essential household items, disability adaptations and equipment
- guidance on other sources of funds that might be more appropriate to the applicant’s needs
- individually tailored advice and information
While the Fund is likely to be the last charity using face-to-face techniques on the street – can you imagine the public’s reaction to fundraisers fundraising for fundraisers? – it does need funds to meet its needs.
- Victim Support donates to the Charity Employees Benevolent Fund (5 April 2012)
- thankQ donates CRM system to the Charity Employees Benevolent Fund (11 December 2011)
- Charity sector’s own staff benevolent fund to close (30 July 2012)
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.