Fundraising – Critical Fundraising

Expanded typology describes many more ways charities are being cut out of doing good

New white paper expands the typology of ‘disintermediation’ – all the ways other actors displace nonprofits in giving, asking for support, and providing aid and help
Disintermediation is marked by whether or not a charity retains control in, and of, relationships with stakeholders – applies particularly to fundraising re donors
New concept of ‘citizen fundraiser/ing’ goes beyond ‘volunteer’ to describe fundraising done by lay people outside the remit of the fundraising profession
More detail on how other actors, particular companies, are delivering services and providing help to people in need
Expanded typology is first step in mapping the routes that charities could take to ‘reintermediate’ into the relationships and processes from which they are displaced
Seeking partners to co-create a toolkit to help charities reintermediate.

‘Citizen fundraisers’ are taking ownership of fundraising methods

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.

NEWS: Research agenda explores ethical implications of using AI in fundraising

Generic concerns about the ethical use of AI can’t be overlain on to fundraising, since its use in fundraising throws up ethical dilemmas specific to this application
AI currently doesn’t have access to sufficiently-sophisticated thinking about ethics to be able to tackle ethical dilemmas in fundraising
Ethical and data literacy across the fundraising profession must be upskilled to ensure the most rigorous human oversight of the use of AI in fundraising.

OPINION Will you still love me tomorrow? Who will be the the real donors of the next 50 years?

In the face of a “generational time bomb”, the recent ‘Tomorrow’s Donor, Today’ research challenges fundraising norms and advocates for radical changes. However, Giles Pegram takes issue with the research’s fundamental assumption, and asks if it risks becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy.