Comments on: Gift Receiving vs Fundraising

By: Matthew Bregman

Matthew Bregman — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 05:26:27 +0000

Your distinction between “fundraising” and “gift receiving” is puzzling.

Creating, and then activating, an infrastructure for mass response to an extraordinary circumstance is, in my view, a perfectly legitimate category of fundraising.

Why should these $10 texters and others have to commit to a long-term relationship with the ARC to merit the appellation”donor” ?

Helping a country devastated by natural disaster is “real fundraising.”

What it isn’t is institution building.

But why should it be?

I wrote a lot more about this at my own blog: http://tacticalfundraising.blogspot.com/2010/01/what-can-we-learn-from-haiti.html

By: Chuck English

Chuck English — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 14:11:08 +0000

Two thoughts:

Maybe the challenge for organizations is to make their case for giving so compelling that people respond with a sense of urgency and immediacy that is somewhere on the same continuum as it is for Haiti relief.

The real fundraising will come in what relief organizations do to sustain and grow the relationships they’ve created through their Haiti relief programs,

By: Patricia Barrett

Patricia Barrett — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 20:49:20 +0000

I so agree with Andrea Stander about accountability for all the money so generously donated. The Red Cross can email thank you ’til doomsday to every donor, but no one knows where that donation is going. If I hear that the Adminstative staff has received an increase in salaries at any of these agencies I am going to be so upset — and extremely disappointed.

I would love to see a game plan that goes five years in the future. A promise that the country of Haiti will be rebuilt, that those who have suffered physically with amputated limbs and lost families get long-term help from all countries — not just ours.

By: Andrea Stander

Andrea Stander — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 19:34:01 +0000

My biggest concern is whether there will be any accountability THIS TIME for this outpouring of gift giving. We all rememder TOO well the issues and controversies surrounding the Tsunami, Katrina and other tragedies. The Red Cross has a heavy lift to prove to me that they can be trusted to put all these millions to the use for which they were intended by the giver and not swallow them into the maw of “administration and operations and whatever.”

I for one will be looking for and demanding an accounting of the results of all this – especially because the people of Haiti, now more than ever before – need a long term commitment of generosity and effective delivery of assistance to literally rebuild their country.

By: Rochelle

Rochelle — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 15:12:50 +0000

An interesting distinction – and one that I think the Red Cross already recognizes. I donated last week through the Red Cross and have already received two emails, one last week and one today, incorporating thanks with an update on the relief effort. This is in addition to the initial gift acknowledgement.

They are also targeting their emails. I was already on their email distribution with a different email address not connected to my most recent donation. The first relief effort update that I received that went to the email connected to the donation referenced my donation; the update that went to the email not connected to the donation asked me to give.