Episode #164
Are you focused on fundraising or focused on philanthropy?
I’ll admit, when I think about fundraising and philanthropy, I merge the two in my brain. I’ve thought of them as kind of the same thing. That is, until recently.
Quite by chance, my path crossed with the path of Andrea McManus. I was able to sit down with her and talk about what it’s going to take to really move the nonprofit sector to the next level. And part of that, is focusing more on philanthropy instead of fundraising.
In today’s video, she’ll go into the difference between the two and why shifting the focus is so important.
By the way, Andrea is the president of The Development Group in Canada.
Please share any thoughts or stories you have about fundraising and philanthropy with others. Leave a comment in the box under the video. Thanks.
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Please share any thoughts or stories you have about fundraising and philanthropy with others. Leave a comment. Thanks. 🙂
Thanks for bringing up this important issue. I think that you make some great points.
As we know, in Greek, philanthropy means “love for humanity” – so it is not just about writing a check, it is about compassion and community. Philanthropists want to work with organizations they fund from beginning to end – and develop ongoing relationships. They want to make a difference in the community by giving their time, talent and treasure to worthy institutions or causes.
This sounds like semantics – using the word philanthropy to get board members to buy in easier. Of course ‘what can be achieved’ should underpin all fundraising (the act of asking) and philanthropy (the act of giving). We should be letting our stakeholders know the real difference they are being a part of. Showing board members and volunteers exactly what they are offering others when they fundraise (ie when they ask people to support philanthropically) should be key. That’s an effective way to get them to fundraise – and I do suppose changing the name will work too to some degree, but I can’t help but feel it is a bit of a disservice not to show them the real opportunity they offer when they ask people to give.
Andrea’s video inspired my most recent posting at http://publicserviceblog.blogspot.com/2015/09/empathy-and-philanthropy.html. Thank you, Andrea.