# Fundraising’s other R word

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2019/07/17/fundraisings-other-r-word/
- Published: 2019-07-17T18:48:43+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**I was at a really great talk the other day with a bunch of smart charity fundraisers,
marketers and deliverers. We spent a fun half hour talking about the transformation
of fundraising, the collapse of trust, the end of the Victorian era and loads of
other ****interesting topics. **

Towards the end, someone asked about the value of ‘stewardship’ in fundraising, 
something I hadn’t mentioned at all. This isn’t because I don’t think ‘stewardship’
is important. It’s just that I don’t think it’s fundraising.

But lots of people think it is. Taking a look at the chat around the recent IoF 
convention it’s clear that lots of people still believe in the primacy of the ‘donor
relationship’. That the primary aim is to ‘acquire’ and then ‘retain’ people called
donors by showing them lots of ‘donor love’. It’s such a pervasive way of thinking
that whole departments of people in charities are organised around it, leading to
thicker-walled silos and ever-more entrenched, self-confirming ways of thinking.

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But worse, perhaps, **this emphasis on relationships at all costs is persisting**
at a time when GDPR makes it harder than ever, when Facebook, contactless and other
models enable people to give money without giving their data (how dare they!), and
when definitions of loyalty are fundamentally shifting. In other words, **when regulation
prevents it, technology makes it unnecessary, and people don’t want or value it.**

Fundraising, despite all this, seems for many to still be about badgering people
to give us their email addresses and postcodes so that we can pretend to be their
friends. Instead of actually BEING their friends.

 

## R is for relevance

![Gold bracelet with 'relevance' engraved on it](https://wfay6x.infiniteuploads.
cloud/2019/07/IMG_3381.jpg)

And that’s where the other ‘R’ word comes in. I’d argue that by far the more interesting(
indeed necessary) dynamic in fundraising today is RELEVANCE. **The ability to be
part of and add value to people’s lives.** The empathy and emotional intelligence
to understand what they might need from us. The bravery and imagination to actually
offer it.

Without it, we won’t stand out; but will be compelled to follow the tricks and techniques
of old. Without it, we won’t be able to evolve, adapt or change. But most importantly,
without it, I don’t believe the charity sector will survive at anything like the
scale it wants or needs to be.

So. Please don’t ditch stewardship. Don’t stop thanking people, being polite, spelling
their names right, or doing the right thing. But please, don’t mistake it for fundraising.**
Because to raise funds now you need to matter.** And that’s a much harder job,

unfortunately.

 * **[Four reasons to thank donors instantly](https://fundraising.co.uk/2019/08/30/four-reasons-to-thank-donors-instantly/)**(
   30 August 2019)
 * **[COVID-19: launch of weekly monitor of supporter loyalty and sentiment](https://fundraising.co.uk/2020/03/20/covid-19-launch-of-weekly-monitor-of-supporter-loyalty-and-sentiment/)**(
   20 March 2020)
 * **[Last day to register for Perfect Pitch – Donor Retention and Management](https://fundraising.co.uk/2006/05/29/last-day-register-perfect-pitch-donor-retention-and-management/)**(
   29 May 2006)

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