People are increasingly raising funds for good causes outside the reach and remit of the fundraising profession.
While there have always been volunteers who have fundraised for charities, the case made in a new white paper from the international think tank Rogare – Death by a thousand cuts: How other actors are displacing charities from giving, asking for support, and providing help – is that the term ‘volunteer’ is no longer sufficient to describe and encompass all the ways that people conduct raising money for good causes.
Adapting the concept of ‘citizen journalism’, we have introduced the idea of citizen fundraising and citizen fundraisers.
‘Volunteer’ implies that someone is acting within the parameters of established charity processes – there has to be something they can volunteer for – such as when engaged in community fundraising.
But citizen fundraising is a repositioning of control, ownership and agency over and in the fundraising process, and citizen fundraisers will act on their own initiative, outside the control or even knowledge of nonprofits they might be fundraising for.
And citizen fundraisers often raised funds for causes that have no connection with traditional charities, such as when crowdfunding for medical expenses or to fund new creative projects.
The full definition of citizen fundraising/er we have devised is:
Citizen fundraising is when people who are not members of the fundraising profession take ownership of the use of the methods and techniques of professional fundraising to raise money to help people in need or to further a good cause, but do so without involving a traditional charity in organising or conducting their fundraising efforts (even though they may ultimately donate the money they raise to a traditional charity). A citizen fundraiser is therefore someone who conducts citizen fundraising.
- For full details and explanations, see pp24-25 of Death by a thousand cuts.
The concept of citizen fundraising we have developed was shaped with the particular input of two US members of Rogare’s Critical Fundraising Network, Cherian Koshy and Anthony Petchel (strategic planner at Mission Trajectory).
Cherian Koshy says:
“The category of ‘citizen fundraiser’ is both necessary and useful because it captures a distinct behavioral and structural shift that the term ‘volunteer’ does not adequately describe.
“Citizen fundraisers are not just helping charities raise money, they are deciding to raise money on their own terms, using tools that were previously the domain of professional fundraisers.
“Without a distinct term, these dynamics become blurred and it becomes difficult to analyse when activity represents decentralisation versus true disintermediation. The concept of the citizen fundraiser therefore provides necessary clarity in understanding how the role of the ‘ask’ is evolving.”
Ceri Edwards, executive director of engagement at the Chartered Institute of Fundraising, and president of the European Fundraising Association, says:
“The concept of the ‘citizen fundraiser’ is helpful precisely because it describes something distinct from a traditional volunteer role. The evidence on peer-to-peer giving illustrates how much activity now takes place through individual fundraising pages rather than charities’ own channels. That creates opportunity, but it can also leave charities with limited visibility of, or influence over, the supporter experience.
“The answer is not to constrain people’s initiative. It is to build better routes into a charity’s mission: clear and proportionate onboarding, accessible tools and advice, appropriate safeguards, and stewardship that recognises citizen fundraisers as valued partners. If charities make engagement slow, difficult or controlling, people will go around them. But if they offer support and a compelling sense of shared purpose, they have a much stronger chance of building lasting relationships.”
- Death by a thousand cuts presents an expanded typology of how charities are displaced from giving, asking for support and providing help. It is the first phase of a four-stage project with Kingston University Business School in the UK to help charities win back their places in the processes and relationships from which they have been cut out. For full details on the typology and the next phases of the project, you can read more on Critical Fundraising here, or visit the Rogare website here.
- We were able to undertake this work at Rogare thanks to the ongoing generous support of our Associate Members: ST (Stephen Thomas Ltd), Ask Direct, GoalBusters, Giving Architects, Chell Perkins, Fundraiser in the Room, and our strategic partnership with the Chartered Institute of Fundraising. Their support ensures all Rogare’s reports and other outputs are freely available to the fundraising profession – https://www.rogare.net/publications.
Critical Fundraising 