EFA Certification

Created with EU funding, EFA Certification is a framework for national fundraising qualifications, enabling fundraising associations and educational providers to develop their own qualifications around a common set of fundraising competencies. With an EFA certified qualification, fundraisers can demonstrate their commitment to the profession and that they are part of a formal industry with robust standards.

EFA offers the EFA Certification Standard Competence Framework, and the EFA Certification Advanced Competence Framework.

The EFA Certification Standard Competence Framework has been providing fundraisers with a professional qualification recognised both across Europe and internationally since 2007, with over 6,250 fundraisers having now completed an EFA certified qualification in 14 countries.

To meet the needs of fundraisers who are ready to move into leadership, in 2022 EFA added the EFA Certification Advanced Competence Framework, which focuses on the competencies and skills required to lead and manage a successful and contemporary fundraising operation.

The competencies for these professional fundraising qualifications are available in the EFA Certification Standard Competence Framework (revised and updated by EFA's certification committee in 2020 and again in 2022), and the EFA Certification Advanced Competence Framework. 

Originally modelled on the Chartered Institute of Fundraising's Certificate in Fundraising, the certification programme gives EFA members the tools they need to develop their own national training programmes and fundraising qualifications, in conjunction with education partners.

Once approved by EFA’s certification committee, they become accredited qualifications, recognised internationally.

The committee has approved 9 fundraising qualifications, which are now available across Europe.

"Only by establishing robust and professional standards, can we build public trust in not-for-profit organisations and encourage philanthropy. An EFA certified qualification is a fundraising ‘passport’ that brings both recognition and mobility to work in other cultures to a shared set of principles."
Andrea Caracciolo di Feroleto, EFA certification committee member