"What's in a name?" - a vision for the future of fundraising
- Ken Burnett
- Feb 9
- 4 min read
Fundraising needs a new name, says Ken Burnett.
“Way too many people assume it’s simple, easy, merely a matter of asking people to give money. And if ever more money is needed (which it always is) too many fundraisers have assumed they just have to ask more people, more often, more vigorously, for bigger sums. This explains why people instinctively cross the street to avoid a fundraiser, and why at parties any fundraiser incautious enough to announce what she or he does for a living can, in an instant, effectively clear a room.”
Roger Craver, The Agitator, USA
What’s in a name?...
The name ‘Fundraising’ at least is clear. It shouts, “Give us your money!”. No nuance, no hint of wider meaning. Neither user-friendly nor user-welcome.
Yet despite appearances, fundraising really isn’t all about money, far from it. It’s about change, because no-one ever gives us money for things to stay the same. And all donors want to feel their gift’s made a difference.
So, the two-dimensional name we’ve given our sector — Fundraising — is seriously holding us back.
I like David Love’s notion that when we say the word ‘fundraising’ we should think more broadly:
“What drives great fundraising is value. We create value, and money follows value. A perhaps more poetic way to say this is, we make donors’ dreams come true. So, every time you read the word ‘fundraising’...please think ‘creating value’ .”
David Love, Green Green, Canada
Sadly, people don’t always do this. Guided by that name, they think it’s simply just asking for money. Which is not just wrong: it’s incomplete, uninspiring and unhelpful for our supporters and our causes.
When fundraising is done well
Fundraising’s a difficult job because it’s not just about getting donors to give money: it’s about getting them to feel good about giving money, so they’ll keep on giving. Fundraising (the activity, not the name) offers everyone an affordable opportunity to help make the world a better place. It fuels voluntary action, a shining jewel in our society’s claim to civilisation.
Additionally, it gives donors satisfaction, purpose, meaning and fulfilment, particularly in later life, when disposable income is generally highest. And, we now know, giving is surprisingly good for donors’ physical and mental health.
Retaining good donors and fundraisers are the twin major challenges facing all our organisations. By giving ourselves a bad name, our sector is losing £billions of easily acquired additional support that could be funding a mountain of great works, helping extra millions in need and contributing much more than we currently do to the wellbeing of our society.
Our sector needs a name that reflects all of this.
Now you can help us find it.
A new name for 'fundraising'
I believe that we fundraisers need to move beyond the merely monetary aspect of what we do, to link our activities to the transformational change that a donor’s money brings.
Many have tried, but so far, finding a new name that’s clear, concise and covers the key components has proved elusive:
It has to be inspirational.
It has to use donor-friendly language.
And, crucially, it must be widely accepted and adopted.
The criteria: Inspirational, donor-friendly, and easy to adopt.
It's also worth bearing in mind that fundraising invariably goes hand in hand with campaigning, though always the campaigning has to come first. The change is the end and money is merely the means to it - though the act of giving it is, in itself, hugely beneficial.
Recently I wrote a book called The Essence of Campaigning Fundraising [1], hoping it might spur a change of name. That’s yet to happen. Yet, the need for a name change has many supporters, and would bring massive benefits for all our causes.
What a new name for fundraising could do...
A new name will give our sector renewed meaning. If we’re to embrace supporter experience as the future of successful fundraising, the vocabulary we use needs to change.
Last November, About Loyalty ran a competition during their fabulous, well attended Loyalty Day [2], to see if delegates could suggest a better name for our business than 'fundraising'. We’re not quite there yet. But here are our favourites:
Number one is Support-raisers – from Laura at UCCF, where support-raising is already used in place of fundraising (well done Laura!).
Second closest is Supporter relationship management – which could take the form of a Supporter Relationship Manager or Supporter Relationship Adviser. Thank you to Caroline, Supporter Relationship Manager at Coeliac UK, for suggesting this one.
And a distinguished mention for Gift Guardian – whilst it doesn’t replace the act of ‘fundraising’, it’s definitely on the right lines – thank you Cerise at One YMCA for the inspiration.
While writing this, I had an idea for what I would have submitted: I'd like to be a campaigning fundraiser, working in the Better World sector. How about you?
So, "what's in a name"?
Well, for starters, happier donors and fundraisers staying longer, giving more and gaining fulfilment and purpose as together they change the world!
Let’s find the very best name we can, and then work to take our organisations with us, to make and accept the change.
Ken Burnett
What's your idea for a new name for fundraising? Get in touch and let us know: Kay@About-Loyalty.com
Read more from Ken in the groundbreaking report, 'Supporter experience: the future of fundraising': Download 'Supporter experience: the future of fundraising'
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