In 2004, Sargeant pioneered the public information website www.charityfacts.org designed to bolster public trust and confidence in the UK’s charity sector. The site is underpinned by an ongoing benchmarking study tracking the fundraising performance of a cross section of charities.[2] More recently, Sargeant developed the UK’s new National Occupational Standard for Fundraising, specifying the skills and knowledge required of fundraisers working in a variety of different roles within the profession.[3]
In 2008, he was honoured by the Institute of Fundraising for his services to the profession of fundraising, becoming an Honorary Fellow of the Institute.[4] Along with Stephen Lee, Sargeant is calling for a greater investment in meaningful fundraising research in the UK[5]
In 2010, he received a Civil Society Award for his Outstanding Contribution to Fundraising[6] and was named to the prestigious Nonprofit Times' Top 50 Power and Influence List.[7]
In 2012, Sargeant joined Bloomerang, a nonprofit fundraising software start-up, as Chief Scientist, helping to incorporate concepts from his 2004 book Building Donor Loyalty: The Fundraiser's Guide To Increasing Lifetime Value into the company's software.[8]
In 2014, Sargeant was tapped to lead the philanthropic psychology research centre at Plymouth University.[9]
In 2018, Sargeant left the University of Plymouth to launch the Institute for Sustainable Philanthropy, an independent research Institute that is now the home of the new science of philanthropic psychology. Sargeant is a co-director of the Institute alongside his colleague Prof Jen Shang.[10]
