Happy New Year!
Before The Agitator gets on with any serious heavy lifting, let’s set the record straight once and for all on one key issue.
What is the craft most Agitator readers are engaged in — fundraising or fund raising?
The answer, according to this scientific research helpfully provided by Jeff Brooks at Future Fundraising Now (notice the clue?!) is …
Fundraising.
If no one else, I’m hoping that at least Roger takes this on board. His posts have invariably used the wrong formulation, which, but for the watchful and protective eye of this editor, would no doubt have caused him serious adverse reputational consequences over The Agitator’s lifespan.
So, thanks Jeff, you deserve the first Agitator raise of the year for getting us all on the same page in 2011.
Tom
This article was posted in: Don't Miss these Posts, fun, fundraising, issue fundraising, nonprofit management, nonprofits, research, You Deserve a Raise.
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In 1988, when I was director of a capital campaign for Northwestern University, I called the research librarian to sort out this very question for our campaign newsletter. She told me that the etymological evolution of compound words invariably progresses from two words to a hyphenated form to a compound word. In 1988, she said the word hadn’t yet progressed to common acceptance as one word, so for the adjective I should use the hyphenated version, for the noun two words, and for the verb–since I was at a university, I should use “raise funds.” Yeah, fundraiser and fundraising have achieved their destiny. But, what is the shorthand for twitter, $^?
When I read from the academia side its fundraising, the Chicago Tribune yesterday’s in a front page article online used fundraising and the Association of Fundraising Professionals uses, well, fundraising and Wikipedia uses both fundraising and fund raising. What will be the Twitter shorthand then??