‘Influence is no government’ (George Washington)
Howard Lake | 29 May 2007 | Blogs
The latest copy of PF arrived at our office this morning and I suspect that I, like many others, have been reading with the usual degree of interest, amusement and bemusement, the PF 50 Most Influential Poll.
Interest, because with anything of this kind it is great fun to see who our peers and colleagues have voted for, and which people you know that have made it onto the list.
Amusement, because with anything of this kind, it is great fun to see who has provided a photo of themselves that is clearly from the previous millennium (or worse – in Michael’s Newsome’s case, he now appears to be younger than his own children).
And bemusement that only twelve actual fundraisers made the list, three of those from the NSPCC. That is less than one quarter of the total.
Being outnumbered by Agencies and Consultants (17) I kind of understand. After all, ensuring and maintaining a high-profile image is an essential part of ‘new business development’ and while I am a little dubious sometimes as to the truly useful impact of some of this breed (and after all I am one myself), there are people in there who certainly deserve their place.
But I reserve my greatest bemusement for the politicians. Ed Miliband, I can understand given his remit, but Gordon Brown and Tony Blair at numbers 8 and 30?
My guess is that, in reality, and given their other probable priorities, they couldn’t be less interested in fundraising if they tried.
Using the kind of logic that it seems people must have employed to vote them in, surely their roles would dictate that they would appear in just about every ‘Most Influential’ poll for every business sector that bothers to hold votes.
So unless Mr Blair has taken some time off to personally develop a radical new Major Donor strategy for his party:
Ah, on reflection perhaps I have missed something.
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.