12 days of tenuous fundraising blogs
Howard Lake | 20 December 2018 | Blogs
On many occasions I’ve been wowed by the brilliance of the tenuous fundraising blog; the blog that aims to mine nuggets of fundraising ore from the darkest and weirdest of places, the more tenuous the better.
It is not meant to be critical of the bloggers – quite the opposite – it’s a celebration of the creativity and frankly tongue in cheek cheekiness of fundraisers across the globe. OK, some are terrible, so they come with a warning!
Here are my favourite 12 tenuous fundraising blogs to count down to Christmas. Enjoy.
12. What Fundraisers Can Learn from Dogs
A stab at linking dogs to human donors; dogs respond empathetically to distress, as do humans, so upset donors to get them to give? Yep, kinda.
Fundraising usefulness rating: 1/5
Tenuous rating: 4/5
11. What fundraisers can learn from Walt Disney
A seemingly contradictory effort that suggests creating a magic Disney experience for donors on the one hand and having a warts and all non-Disney experience on the other.
Fundraising usefulness rating: 2/5
Tenuous rating: 3/5
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10. 10 things fundraisers could learn from Star Wars
As a massive Star Wars fan this had to feature. It’s funny, quite helpful and of course has cool pictures from the films.
Fundraising usefulness rating: 4/5
Tenuous rating: 5/5
9. 5 things fundraisers can learn from Jeremy Corbyn
Earnest and unashamedly biased. One for the Corbynistas!
Fundraising usefulness rating: 2/5
Tenuous rating: 2/5
8. 8 tips fundraisers can learn from street beggars
Distasteful title, which gives you a flavour of the nonsense to come. Not the best of the internet.
Fundraising usefulness rating: 2/5
Tenuous rating: 4/5
7. 7 Things the Cleveland Browns taught me about fundraising
Niche, but quite a relevant, thoughtful piece. Even understood some of the US game lingo.
Fundraising usefulness rating: 2/5
Tenuous rating: 4/5
6. 6 Fundraising Lessons from Lord of the Rings
Someone had to. A bit cheesy, which is unsurprising as it is written by a super-fan, but I really like the gifs.
Fundraising usefulness rating: 2/5
Tenuous rating: 5+/5
5. 5 Takeways fundraisers can learn from professional quarterback negotiations
Fundraising will never work like this. If it did we would be forcing donors into such corners that they would never give to anyone ever again.
Fundraising usefulness rating: 2/5
Tenuous rating: 5/5
4. How your restaurant waiter can teach you about fundraising
A waiter who looks after you well gets a better tip; look after your donor and they will donate. That’s it, don’t bother reading it.
Fundraising usefulness rating: 1/5
Tenuous rating: 4/5
3. 3 Things fundraisers can learn from McDonald’s
Actually a serious blog advocating a consistency of approach with donors. Not sure the golden arches approach work for everyone, however. Worthy.
Fundraising usefulness rating: 2/5
Tenuous rating: 4/5
2. What fundraisers can learn from the New Coke disaster
Don’t understand a word of it. Top marks for tenuous.
Fundraising usefulness rating: 1/5
Tenuous rating: 5/5
1. 6 lessons fundraisers can learn from Elle Woods
Taking you back to that non-Oscar winning film, Legally Blonde. Awash with motivational gifs, this one is more about you than your fundraising. Have faith in yourself. A classic.
Fundraising usefulness rating: 2/5
Tenuous rating: 4/5
Mike Bartlett is a Senior Consultant at Money Tree Fundraising, specialists in high level giving. He is an experienced fundraising professional, having led teams at large international aid agencies and smaller UK-focussed charities. He has a passion for high level giving, especially developing major donor programmes for smaller charities. Mike has been an Institute of Fundraising mentor for five years and is a regular speaker at regional and national fundraising conferences. In 2018 Mike chaired the Institute of Fundraising Major Donor Conference.
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.