Get in the bin!
A new year clear out
by Caroline Danks
Towards the end of last year, I started writing a post entitled ‘Shit which can get in the bin’. After collating two pages of my own thoughts, I put the question to my community via LinkedIn.
The post blew up a little.
Fresh into January 2024, feels like a great time to take stock of all of the responses on THAT post and to try to identify some key themes / tropes which, all being well, we’d collectively toss into the trash this year.
FYI, the plan is to dine out on this post for a long while yet. There are some big issues raised here, none of which can be adequately tackled in a single article alone. Think of this one as a teaser / tone setter and keep your eyes peeled for more in depth writing as we move through 2024.
You can read the original post here.
There were 114 comments and a myriad of frustrations expressed by contributors.
After collating and grouping the comments, it’s clear that there are two broad topics which us income generation folx are especially pissed off at:
1. The assumption that fundraising is easy / the assertion of unworkable ‘ideas’ and ‘solutions’ by non-fundraisers
Commonly suggested ‘ideas’ include:
· Asking celebs
· Asking corporates
· Asking random rich people who nobody actually knows
· Creating a viral challenge (honestly those damn ice buckets…)
· The bloody Sunday Times Rich List
The fundraising that the general public sees is simplistic on the surface (think Children in Need, School PTFA events, Red Nose Day and Bill Gates). Only the tip of an income generating iceberg is visible. Underneath lies tools, tactics, skills, experience, data interrogation, testing and honing, often over many years.
Only those of us in the weeds see this bit.
Solution? Acceptance and education.
Every profession has their own version of this:
· football referees
· government scientists during the pandemic
· GP’s grappling daily with the diagnoses of Dr Google
· people who believe that enjoying beer qualifies them to run a pub.
Acceptance and then education is likely the only way forwards.
The education bit is essential because charities are more often than not run by people who are not fundraisers and yet who make decisions about fundraising.
Fundraising is a relatively new profession.
For better and worse, its roots in volunteering and unpaid community work have not necessarily been upgraded in the minds of those who do not recognise the complex, multi-billion pound sector of today.
Alongside acceptance must sit kindness and patience in our explanations.
No-one makes crappy suggestions out of ill intent.
Most trustees are there because they’re passionate about a cause and want to lend their time to something important.
Frustrating as it is, if you want to be a good fundraiser, you probably also need to become a great teacher / explainer too.
2. Unrealistic/ unfair funder expectations
These included:
· Disproportionate application / reporting requirements for size of grants available
· Unrealistic expectation on outcomes for the size of grant
· Not giving core costs
· Expecting innovation / fancy schmancy projects over core work
I agree with commenters that not only is this wasteful and inefficient, but also that it perpetuates the widening inequality in the sector (between big and small charities) because only the larger organisations can risk the lower return on investment which accompanies the complex application / small grant combo.
This practice also continues our racist and colonialist history (something else which can absolutely get in the bin), whereby those with wealth get to retain power by calling the shots, making charities jump through hoops with no active exploration of the origin of their wealth and the extraction of labour and resources from (usually) marginalised people.
Solution? Feedback and activism.
I’m wondering if there’s a role here for those of us who can safely speak up about these issues without fear of losing out on essential funding for the organisations for whom we work (consultants, freelancers, trainers and speakers, that’s you / us!).
There’s plenty of change which can happen (and plenty which is happening – many funders are tackling their ways of working in an effort to distribute funds in a fairer, more equitable way).
Ideas include:
· Giving grants over a longer time period
· More core funding with fewer restrictions
· Applications which do not solely rely on the written word
· Winding up and spending out
We need to talk about how this system isn’t working – an awkward truth for many fundraisers (myself included) who can work quite comfortably within the system thank you very much and can see no reason on an individual level to change anything.
However not changing anything is playing into a scarcity mindset.
There’s a fear that by welcoming and including fundraisers and charities into a world which has up until now been rather exclusive will mean that there are fewer funds available for our organisation as a result.
But what if that was ok?
In a world where charities are being asked to do more with less and to pick up the slack from a state where capitalism appears to be the prevailing priority, maybe its time to shake things up a bit – to focus on quality of outcome over quantity of outcomes and to reject the notion of growth for growth’s sake.
A rising tide truly does lift all boats and I for one believe that a fairer distribution of resources benefits everyone.