Joe Saxton tops most influential in fundraising poll again
Howard Lake | 23 May 2007 | News
Joe Saxton, driver of ideas at nfpSynergy and Chair of the Institute of Fundraising, has been voted the most influential person in fundraising for the third year in a row by the readers of Professional Fundraising magazine.
Professional Fundraising described him as “one of the most respected voices in the sector”, citing his willingness to stick his head above the parapet over many issues, and his research work at nfpSynergy on Gift Aid, online fundraising, and the Global Fundraising Benchmark.
Second in the 50 Most Influential People poll was Alan Gosschalk, director of fundraising at Shelter and chair of the ImpACT coalition.
The remaining top ten were:
3. Alan Clayton, managing director, Cascaid
4. Giles Pegram, director of fundraising, NSPCC
5. Lindsey Boswell, Chief Executive Institute of Fundraising
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6. Ed Miliband, minister for the third sector
7. Tim Hunter, deputy director of fundraising, NSPCC
8. Gordon Brown, Chancellor of the Exchequer
9. Mark Astarita, director of fundraising, British Red Cross
10. Sarah Shillito, head, the Vodafone Foundation UK
UK Fundraising’s publisher, Howard Lake, was voted number 21, down from number 11 last year.
The top 50 this year featured more names from the regulatory environment, presumably because the poll introduced new criteria, one of which was that those named had to have “the ability to influence fundraising law and regulation and policy”. Fifteen people from this area of fundraising were listed, up from 11 last year.
The list has changed considerably over its five years of operation. Only 19 of the original 50 appear in this year’s list, and 19 names appear on this year’s list for the first time.
The highest ranking new names are Sarah Shillito, head of the Vodafone Foundation UK (number 10) and John Thompson (18) who runs the Changing Business consultancy.
There are still more agencies and consultancies in the list than practising fundraisers – 17 against 12. And three of those 12 fundraisers work at the NSPCC.
Only three people from grantmaking bodies made the list, and the same number of researchers. Luke FitzHerbert, who was killed in a road accident in January, deservedly made it into the list for his research work.
This year’s list features some of the new media agencies that are transforming fundraising. eBay’s Sharath Jeevan (37) and Everyclick founder Polly Gowers (50) both made it on to the list for the first time.
The top 50 list continues to be dominated by men, with just 13 women listed.
There are, as always, some names missing from the list who one might have assumed would have been included. Given the growth in online fundraising, no-one from Justgiving or Bmycharity is listed. Nor David Pitchford from IntelligentGiving.com. And where are the influential fundraising sector bloggers? In the USA they get press invitations to conferences; here they haven’t begun to make an impact on their peers it would seem.
Other ‘missing’ names might include Kevin Kibble, Simon Burne, John Grain, and fundraising PR specialists such as Jenny Turner and Ian MacQuillin.
The sector umbrella bodies don’t achieve much presence either with just one name from the Directory of Social Change, no-one from Charities Aid Foundation, and one former NCVO staffer.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.