The beating hearts of fundraising

Inspiration and passion have been the rocks of fundraising from time immemorial and they are still what underpins successful campaigns, says Alan Clayton.

“Whatever the need, wherever the place, for as long as it takes.”

Fundraising is a people business. It’s a ‘hearts and minds’ business. Sometimes there is a plan to roll out, a strategy to implement and budgets to make long-term decisions for you. There are research papers, analysis tools and abundant research.

But, in reality, the fundraiser facing a problem or an opportunity cannot always turn to a model, a technique or someone else’s experience. And sometimes a fundraiser faces a situation that nobody else has faced before.

And that’s when a very special person is needed. A person with the skills, attitude, creativity and sheer determination to succeed; who simply ‘makes it happen’ no matter what it takes. 

These people are the heart of fundraising around the globe.

The opening plenary session at the 2008 International Fundraising Congress features six of these very special people. Individually inspiring and uniformly talented, six speakers from around the globe will prove that, with bravery and hard work, practically anything is possible. It’s their experience of developing outstanding fundraising programmes in the most difficult of circumstances that has shaped their personalities. It is their personalities that have led them to accept the challenge to speak in front of almost a thousand strangers from around the world, in a language that is not their own. 

They are exceptional people.

With exceptional stories.

From which we can all learn.

In India, the funding authorities did not consider clothing to be worthy of funding.  Anshu Gupta disagreed. From cyclone recovery on a colossal scale, to individual women dying of tetanus through lack of sanitary products, it was obvious to him that clothing is a basic human need and right. How, therefore did Anshu create GOONJ?  With three hundred volunteers and thousands of donors, GOONJ has grown without even asking for money. How? 

When did Isabella Navarro Grueter discover that fundraising is about the ‘joy of giving?’ Find out how two people inspired Isabella to dedicate her career to providing the under privileged members of her community in Mexico with a life changing university education. Who was Juanito, the humble waiter who received a major donor presentation all to himself?  And why do people keep marbles as a souvenir to celebrate the life of Beto?

OK. So a bomb goes off in Kenya. Hundreds need a blood transfusion, but there is no blood. Joseph Wang'endo decided to get some. In fact a lot. “Blood and money” sounds like a thrilling novel, but it is in fact Joseph’s life mission. How did an army of volunteers help Joseph create and fund the Bloodlink Foundation, Kenya? How did they save hundreds of lives when the recent political violence erupted in the country?

Sometimes silence says more than words. Katalin Végh shared a silent walk with a friend named Katherina immediately after visiting 40 youngsters with profound and multiple disabilities. There was no culture of fundraising in Hungary, so what did they do? And how did they end up with a major corporate partner after less than two years?  And how did some of those youngsters find their way to meaningful employment through the same programme?

John Silva from the Philippines once met a lesbian millionaire in New York. He didn’t know she was gay or that she was rich. He just chatted to someone called Betty. When she gave $1million dollars for John to fund North Star – now one of New York’s foremost community organisations – he was simply shocked. And what has this experience meant for John? And what is he doing now that he is back in the Philippines?

Ann Woo works for the Nanyang Press Foundation, one of over 37,000 NGOs in Malaysia. She has pioneered the professional development of fundraisers in the country. How does Ann manage to achieve inspirational cut-through for her own organisation? And how does she find the time, energy and support to drive the sharing of skills and professional development of fundraisers throughout the entire South East Asia Region? And how has she perfected ‘making the ask after 22 years as a fundraiser?

Now, although these are clearly amazing and exceptional people, I wouldn’t for a moment suggest that they’re the only ones. We all know someone who has inspired us or spurred us on to bigger and better things. Those people who have the passion and inspiration to get out there and do something.

Every fundraising programme is made up of the emotional and very personal transactions of inspired individuals. These transactions are facilitated by the inspiration of determined fundraisers. This is true in every corner of the world, for every donor, for every mission and for all time.

It’s comforting and inspiring in itself to know that there are still people like these six out there achieving amazing results for their chosen cause. People say there’s nothing new in fundraising, and perhaps this just proves the point – nothing creates successful fundraising campaigns like the age-old skills of passion and inspiration.

For these six people, their stories show how the skills, behaviour and attitude of fundraisers can change the world – everywhere, anytime.

For more details on the IFC, click here.

Alan Clayton is head of charities at London-based The Good Company, working with over 100 UK and international charity clients.

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