Fundraisers have paid tribute to former Chartered Institute of Fundraising (CIoF) chair Mark Astarita, who has died aged at the age of 64.

According to a statement from the consultancy he co-founded in 2017, Astarita, Aldrich and Ward (AAW), he fell ill while on holiday in Spain and later died in hospital.

He spent three years from 2011 as chair of the Institute of Fundraising, which is now the Chartered Institute of Fundraising, and in 2015 he was awarded an OBE for services to the charity sector.

In a statement the CIoF said: “He was a relentless champion for our profession and his passion and achievements leave an indelible mark on our community. Our thoughts are with Mark’s family, friends and colleagues at this sad time.”

Before joining the charity sector, he was head of PR for the Institution of Chemical Engineers. His first role in fundraising was with Prisoners Abroad, where he was its fundraising manager and deputy director during the 1990s.

After a nine-year stint as deputy chief executive of the National Deaf Children’s Society he joined the British Red Cross, where he spent more than 14 years as its director of fundraising.

Imogen Ward, another AAW founder, said: “When Mark moved from being a Trade Unionist to the Charity Sector he really did bring something very different.

“Mark was a working-class young man who had left school at 15 with very few qualifications.

“Smart, cocky and determined to have his voice heard in a sector which, like the rest of British society, really wanted the Marks of the world to conform and be quiet.

“But Mark couldn't be quiet. And as he got more confident, he got louder. And it was Fundraisers that became his cause.

“Fundraisers who he loved and roared for and would always, always champion. Fundraisers were Mark’s life’s work.”

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