# Five tweets about fundraising history

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2019/03/13/five-tweets-about-fundraising-history/
- Published: 2019-03-13T08:22:13+00:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**Fundraising has a long history. Channels might have changed, understanding of 
what motivates giving might have grown, but we can still learn from past examples.
And Twitter is full of these lessons and examples from the past.**

Here are five tweets about fundraising in the past.

## 1. WWF’s early fundraising ideas

A biography of naturalist Peter Scott includes some fascinating background to the
fundraising tactics used in the early days of the WWF. 
 _[Tweet at https://twitter.
com/gethynwilliams/status/1103203414778040320 no longer available]_ 

## Advertisement

## 2. Really old school fundraising

Mark Phillips blogs about how fundraising was taught in one school in 1350:

> Back in 1350 there was a school that taught fundraising. Take a look at why they
> thought people gave, how they constructed an appeal and a sample letter. [#notmuchhaschanged](https://twitter.com/hashtag/notmuchhaschanged?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw).
> [https://t.co/ZnwSTOavKI](https://t.co/ZnwSTOavKI) [pic.twitter.com/j0uEczm6fo](https://t.co/j0uEczm6fo)
> — Mark Phillips (@Markyphillips) [February 27, 2019](https://twitter.com/Markyphillips/status/1100735732140986368?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

 

## 3. Right royal fundraising

The fundraising school resulted in David Burgess sharing details how emergency appeals
were launched in the 1600s. He highlighted an example of a ‘brief’, a document of
1666 from the Essex Record Office’s archive which was a fundraising appeal on behalf
of the citizens of Weymouth in Dorset who had suffered a major fire.

These briefs were copies of royal letters patent, which called for the gathering
of contributions from ‘all well-disposed persons’. These would then employ collectors
to travel around the country seeking donations.   

> Thanks Mark – really enjoyed this. With your interest in historical fundraising
> you might find this of interest from [@essexarchive](https://twitter.com/essexarchive?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)–
> [https://t.co/IwHOOnQ0v6](https://t.co/IwHOOnQ0v6)
> — David Burgess (@DavidBurgessFR) [February 27, 2019](https://twitter.com/DavidBurgessFR/status/1100886907419086848?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

 

## 4. Victorian collecting dogs

Years ahead of the [contactless giving dogs of Blue Cross](https://fundraising.co.uk/2016/05/19/blue-cross-uses-dogs-mobile-contactless-fundraising/),
here are the collecting dogs of Victorian times.

_[Tweet at https://twitter.com/fuyerescaper/status/1093913989673873409 no longer
available]_

It’s worth reading the whole thread, but here’s the final instalment:

_[Tweet at https://twitter.com/fuyerescaper/status/1093915867610529792 no longer
available]._

 

## 5. Know what happened

If you’re still unconvinced about the value (and enjoyment) of looking backwards
to look forwards, here’s Lisa Sargent’s advice:

> [#fundraisers](https://twitter.com/hashtag/fundraisers?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw),
> what’s gone before. It matters. 👇 [https://t.co/lmh6xKuOPJ](https://t.co/lmh6xKuOPJ)
> — Lisa Sargent (@lisasargent2) [March 12, 2019](https://twitter.com/lisasargent2/status/1105426192608493569?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

 As a historian and a fundraiser, it’s only right that we add a bonus tweet.

## 6. Donor plaque

How many donors are mentioned on blue plaques? Or how many blue plaques refer to
the named individual’s philanthropy?

Here’s one that does. And note Mark Phillips’ comment underneath it, estimating 
the current value of such a donation:

> That would be like a gift of £217,000 today. [pic.twitter.com/KufLTkQQKn](https://t.co/KufLTkQQKn)
> — Mark Phillips (@Markyphillips) [March 13, 2019](https://twitter.com/Markyphillips/status/1105884050366087171?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

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