50 most influential in fundraising – and on Twitter

Howard Lake | 9 June 2010 | Blogs

• Tagged with:
• Digital
• Recruitment / people
• Twitter

Fundraising magazine has published the 2010 Most Influential in Fundraising list, as voted for by readers of the magazine. The list usually generates lots of interest amongst those who are on it, or who hope or even expect to be on it. It also generates debate about the value of such lists, and there are always elements of the list that provoke criticism.
Here are just two comments on the list on Twitter yesterday:

<1/3 are women. RT @howardlake: The @CSFundraising 50 most influential in fundraising list is out: http://bit.ly/dpRU9oTue Jun 08 09:54:33 via EchofonGill McLellan
gillmcl

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I’m on the list by the way. Number 40, down from 25 last year, but that’s good enough for my ego. (And yes, you might have spotted that I’m male, in my 40s, a consultant…).
But what is influence in fundraising? For some of those on the list it is a consequence of political position – Gordon Brown, Alistair Darling and Barack Obama all appear on the list. (Actually, I’m still puzzled about Obama at number 33: just how is he so influential in fundraising in the UK? Has he developed a particularly nifty angle in Gift Aid, or is he a model face-to-face fundraiser?).
For others, influence is down to their track record as a consultant, service provider, or an actual fundraiser. Yes, this year there are still practising fundraisers on the list.
But I was wondering whether social media has played any importance in determining the list – and I’m not referring to the ‘vote for me’ campaigns that have allegedly gone on over the years by some keen to reach the top. Needless to say, I was wondering in the context that social media, or at least online media, is what gets me onto the list – and I’m grateful for it.
While I don’t have time to analyse the social media presence of each of the 50, it wasn’t too hard to find out how many used Twitter. So, here is my version of the 50 most influential people in fundraising in the UK in terms of those who use Twitter:
@nfpsynergy
@stevgeorg
@tonyelischer
@kenburnett1
@claytonburnett
@bernardrossmc
@markyphillips
@gordonmichie
@derekhumphries
@timlongfoot
@barackobama
@jamesbriggs
@Richardradclif
@jonduschinsky
@howardlake
@ianmacquillin
@stevenjandrews
So, 17 out of 50 use Twitter. (If I’ve missed anyone out, do let me know). I don’t think there is any significance in this – it doesn’t prove that Twitter (or social media) brings you influence in fundraising. All it does indicate is that now it’s very easy for you and all fundraisers who want to to communicate quickly and directly with some influential people in this industry.
Now I’ve made it even easier for you to sample the collected musings of these influencers on Twitter. I’ve created a list of them at
http://twitter.com/howardlake/most-influential-2010
which lets you see who they are, their latest tweets, and lets you sign up to receive their future messages in one easy click.

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.