Has digital disrupted fundraising?
Howard Lake | 13 August 2013 | Blogs
Digital technology has disrupted many industries over the last 15 or 20 years. Book publishing, advertising, music, insurance, medicine, education and many more have been disrupted or are in the throes of it.
But what about charity fundraising? We've had secure online donations for nearly 20 years, and the sector has experienced, adapted to and driven all kinds of digital developments. We've seen major new companies emerge in the digital era such as JustGiving, and countless digital start-ups.
But I don't believe fundraising has been disrupted.
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What could disrupt fundraising?
Probably the trend that could disrupt fundraising the most is crowdfunding, by taking some of the essential tools and processes of fundraising and opening them up to anyone. Similarly microloan organisations such as Kiva can connect individuals directly, and what is more, can ensure that money is recycled to ensure repeated impact.
Of course, mobile giving, microdonations, and peer-to-peer fundraising have all changed or expanded fundraising. But I don't believe you could truthfully say that they have disrupted the sector.
Signs of disruption
If disruption has occurred in fundraising, surely we would see evidence of it. This could take the form of charities that have ceased to exist because their fundraising model was made redundant, or fundraising companies whose business model was overtaken by digital developments.
Of course, over the past 20 years, fundraising companies and charities have gone out of business, not least given the difficulties of the past six years of financial crisis. But were any of them the victim of digital disruption?
Is fundraising immune to disruption?
So, has the fundraising industry, unlike others, avoided digital disruption? Will it continue to do so?
Perhaps it might. Charities' income streams are quite diverse, and part of fundraising strategy is to plan ahead and adapt to effective fundraising methods, testing as you go, and dropping the less successful methods and channels. Unless digital can overhaul and challenge the major income sources of major gifts, regular giving, and grant making trusts, then perhaps charities will be able to weather and adapt to the considerable challenges of digital communications.
Should fundraising be disrupted?
If fundraising had experienced digital disruption, would it (and consequently charities' beneficiaries, and indeed donors) have been improved? Would the sector have responded to such a large-scale challenge and transformed itself and become even more effective? And in the meantime, would charity income have suffered and therefore beneficiaries too? Quite possibly.
So, do let me know if you think that fundraising has been disrupted by digital developments or is in the process of being so.
Photo: broken rail by Lightspring on Shutterstock.com
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.