Cracking Charity Chat. Ep. 14. Louise Firth, Director of Fundraising at Refuge on diversity

Equality, diversity and inclusion with Louise Firth.

Louise Firth is Director of Fundraising at Refuge and a member of the Institute of Fundraising’s Expert Advisory Panel for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI). Having been part of this volunteer panel and on the journey with the Institute of Fundraising (IoF) navigating and leading the way for the fundraising sector in terms of EDI, this is a must-listen for those of you interested in and championing EDI.

We talk about Refuge, the challenges around fundraising for ‘difficult’ causes, such as victims/survivors sharing their stories, and the new fundraising strategy. We then talk the Change Collective Strategy. We cover the drivers for the strategy, the four inequalities that are being addressed, the 16 initial activities of the strategy, and talk about some things in more detail, including: affinity networks, what it means to be a role model, how we can work with the corporate sectors, and what you can do to support the development of a more equal, diverse and inclusive sector.

The take-aways for me are:

• Read the Change Collective Strategy. We all saw the #CharitySoWhite last month and it’s great to see that there are plans for this to develop further – it’s a great initiative. But did wonder how many people tweeting about it had actually engaged with the strategy and considered how they could support the Change Collective Movement. So, if you haven’t already, please do take a look. You can find the strategy at Institute of Fundraising’s website.
• Educate yourself. Start with something like June Sarpong’s Diversify or go straight in with Why I’m No Longer Talk To White People About Race by Renni Eddo Lodge. There are loads of other resources out there too – for example, Fundraising Think Thank Rogare is running a project to explore gender issues in fundraising which is definitely worth checking out.
• Take action yourself. Drawing on Louise’s suggestions, think about the practical actions that you can take; how can you be a role model, how can you be an ally, how can you integrate the strategy into your work?

You can listen on SoundCloud,  iTunes or my website. I hope you enjoy it – if so, do share on social media and rate on iTunes. I’d also love to hear your feedback.

If you or someone you know is experiencing violence or abuse, contact the National Domestic Violence Helpline: 0808 2000 247