Fundraising sector torn between 'Right to ask' and 'Right to give' 3

Fundraising | Tania Mason | 26 May 2010

Institute of Fundraising trustees are considering whether ‘Right to give’ might be a better campaign theme for the fundraising sector than the ‘Right to ask’ concept originally proposed.

The Institute’s executive team proposed 'Right to ask' as a campaign idea to their board at the latest trustee meeting. They want to use the phrase as the basis for a sector-wide brand that can be applied to all fundraising policy and campaigns, to reinforce the right of fundraisers to ask for money on behalf of their beneficiaries.

But chief executive Lindsay Boswell admitted that some trustees were not sold on the ‘Right to ask’ idea and thought ‘Right to give’ might be “more positive”.

However, others within the Institute and other groups that have been involved in planning the campaign, including the Public Fundraising Regulatory Association, felt that ‘Right to give’ was a watering down of the initial idea and preferred to stick with the original plan.

In order to try to reach agreement, a facilitated brainstorming session has been arranged for the end of next month to thrash out the issues, agree the theme and develop the first strands of work.

Boswell said there was agreement at the meeting that the campaign needed to be an initiative that “plays into the whole of the sector”.

“It was kicked off by the Institute but the people who will help encourage the strategy and the direction of the content will be a much wider group than just the Institute,” he said.

“We genuinely need and want this to be the product of collective energy and effort, so we want to spend some time teasing out the subtleties.”

Directory: Institute of Fundraising | Public Fundraising Regulatory Association
Who's Who: Lindsay Boswell

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Richard Morris
Managing Director
TheGivingMachine
30 Jun 2010

I thought that this article touched on an interesting point in that the act of a donation is a "giving thing" for the donor and a "taking thing" for the beneficiary. Many charities focus on the efficiency of taking and in this article, the right to ask for and take donations.

From a Giver point of view, they may have some definite opinions about the difference between raising their awareness of what a charity does, its benefits to others and how they can get involved vs. putting them on the spot and leaving a very one sided "transaction".

Perhaps there is an opportunity to think about how the sector can help foster an environment where giving is something that we all do in many different ways and so it becomes a case of how you want to give who you choose to give to rather than whether you choose to give at all.

Talking about "rights" just doesn't hit the right tone for me and feels exclusive rather than inclusive.

Best Regards

Richard
www.thegivingmachine.co.uk
(also trustee & vice chair of East Herts YMCA)

[Reply]

Carl Allen
none
none
27 May 2010

It would be useful to have written material on the meaning and context of "right" and "ask".

Does it self-confer a legal right protecting the asker against allegations of harassment?

Will every askee be handed a sheet explaining what is their right?

How will the askee be protected against "ask" being translated into "spin" or "right" being made to appear as "lawfully allowed"?

How easy will it be for an asker to lose when a complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority is made about improper use of the theme?

Will the facilitated brainstorming session be no more than a self-consultation exercise where consultation is used as a substitute for rigorous analysis?

[Reply]

Mick Aldridge
Chief Executive
PFRA
27 May 2010

"Right to Give" is a sterile platitude: everyone has the 'right' (choice) whether to give – or not. The crux of the matter is that as fundraisers, we all know the old adage "don’t ask, don’t get", yet many people, supposedly potential donors, specifically DENY that charities actually have any "right" to ask. How many of us have NOT heard the tired refrain "but I give when I want to" – and of course they don’t. Charities have a RIGHT (and indeed a DUTY) to "ask" because without funds nothing gets done. Period.

[Reply]

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