Article of the Month: Future of Fundraising, in Third Sector

There are some very smart insights, as well as some challenging calls for meaningful change, in this article from Third Sector, where they’ve asked leading UK based fundraisers to make their predictions about the future of fundraising

My top five quotes from the piece:

“We continue to try to get the next generation of world changers to conform to the existing charity model”
– Leesa Harwood, fundraising consultant

“There is already a shift towards the principles of ‘supporter engagement’, which prioritise the whole supporter experience, value every type of contribution – such as money, time, voice and more – build relationships and movements focused primarily on long-term impact over short-term transactions, and break down those unhelpful internal silos of fundraising, communications, campaigning, volunteering and so on.”
– Joe Jenkins, Children’s Society

“It’s no longer the case that people will set up direct debits and simply leave them running for 25 years without thinking about it. People will simply ‘vote with their feet’ and find other ways and other organisations if they don’t think they’re getting what they want from you.”
– Kathryn Holloway, Friends of the Earth

“At Greenpeace we’ve just launched a fundraising team dedicated to raising money using instant messaging, because we know direct dialogue works and conversations are happening more and more online. We’re simply adapting established fundraising methodology to a shifting media landscape. People don’t really change, but how they send and receive communications does. The trick is to be agile and aware. “
Deborah O’Dowd, Greenpeace

Reject incrementalism: If by 2030 all we’ve done is manage decline in “traditional” fundraising approaches or maintained the status quo, other organisations yet unknown will be doing a better job than we are.”
– Paul de Gregorio, Rally agency

There’s tons more in the full article, I’d really recommend taking the time to read through it, and would love to hear what you think. 

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