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Anything other than fundraising is not 'just a cost' 1

Fundraising | Suzie Who | 17 Feb 2010

I actually really loved the energy and freshness of Peter Storey’s article about Kidney Research UK. But I think a word of warning is in order.

I once worked in a charity that bought everyone badges saying ‘I love fundraising’ and tried to instil in all employees the belief that they shared responsibility for fundraising.

There are loads of obvious benefits to this kind of approach that our charity enjoyed – a greater awareness of fundraising as well as some actually surprisingly good ideas and contacts being suggested by colleagues.

But there are risks too.

I love fundraising – truly. Don’t get me wrong.

But ultimately I love it because of the difference it makes to the causes I work for.

I am easily pleased. I can be happy knowing I am helping find a cure for some nasty disease, find homes for the homeless (be they human or animal), save the planet or champion the rights of the marginalised.

For me it is the joy of knowing I am helping others give their hard earned money to make the world a better place that gets me out of bed on a dark winter morning.

And I think that if we just focus on the fundraising we risk losing sight of the beneficiary.

From the article I don’t think this is a trap Kidney Research UK are likely to fall into. Their goals are reassuringly focused on their real objective: "We want to double our income and treble our impact on kidney disease".

But not all charities would be able to balance a focus on income so easily with a focus on charitable objectives.

There are far too many charities whose goals are to ‘double income’.

I worry that sometimes the beneficiary or ultimate goals gets lost in the rush for cash.

And, on a more personal level, I suppose I still want to feel that as a fundraiser I do have some special skills and abilities that my colleagues in programmes, finance, research and HR, just don’t have.

We might all be fundraisers but some of us are hopefully slightly better than others?

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