# Big Ben, Boris and beautiful crowdfunding. Are all causes born equal?

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2020/01/17/big-ben-boris-and-beautiful-crowdfunding-are-all-causes-born-equal/
- Published: 2020-01-17T14:58:54+00:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**“What does a fundraiser do?” was the standard question I was fired at during a
Twixtmas party. Most professional fundraisers are so used to this question that 
we don’t even have that nervous twitch anymore. Sure there is a 50% chance if someone
is answering that they may receive their news from the Daily Mail but it doesn’t
matter. We are professional fundraisers and we can blitz this particular question.**

It’s OK that lots of people think our jobs are easy, we can just focus on getting
our jobs done. Few of us are here for the glory. 

The rise of crowdfunding hasn’t helped this perception though. From Grenfell to 
Notre Dame, church roofs to community centres, last-ever holidays to life-saving
surgery. The relatively rare, highly successful public crowdfunding campaign can
make fundraising look easy.

## Advertisement

Of course we know that they aren’t representative. You can’t crowdfund for 10 years
worth of social care for a severely disabled child. You can’t crowdfund once a year
every year to keep a women’s shelter active. You can’t trust the ability to market
a crowdfunding page as a method for selecting the best medical research to invest
in.

Crowdfunding has less oversight, regulation, consideration around effectiveness 
than traditional fundraising and this is very much a double edged sword. 

As a professional fundraiser I always avoid denigrating any fundraising towards ‘
good’ causes. I feel I am an ambassador for the profession and I try not to let 
my very strong opinions on the pecking order of worthiness come through. I’d rather
people spend their money on causes I deem to be less worthy than at Louis Vuitton
so best not grumble when asked about such a cause.

Occasionally this differs though and I feel the need to explain why I am concerned
about a particular direction of funding. I’ll try and argue devil’s advocate with
myself to provide some balance and often I’ll suggest a similar cause that I feel
are better directing funds from what I have seen. 

 

## Instant or considered giving

This surfaced most recently when I was walking around in the Clifton area of Bristol.
A friend asked why I was walking with purpose to a supermarket window. I got out
my phone, slammed it in the window and walked off. I’d made a contactless donation.
She followed up with ‘That was nice, do you do that everywhere you see it?” – Nope.
Just that I’d walked passed a few homeless people in the city that day and wanted
to do something about it.

I feel this is a metaphor for selecting a registered charity over a crowdfunding
campaign. The homeless person would directly get my money. I would get an immediate
thanks from the beneficiary. I would be more visible to my peers (walking around
the city) in my donation. 

In contrast, donating to a national homeless charity isn’t as reactive, I have given
them no way to contact me and thank me for my donation or explain how it will help.
I have donated because I know how well governed the cause is and that my donation,
as a small drop in a sea of fundraising is a more considered way to impact not just
the homeless people I have seen, but also those who I’m not walking past. 

I feel this idea about considering the impact of your donation is slowly increasing
and this is something crowdfunding is starting to help with. 

 

## “Bung a bob for a Big Ben bong”

 

 

When reading about the plan(s) to raise **£500,000** to have [Big Ben Bring in Brexit](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-51133614)
I was instantly disappointed … until I read the response it was having. It may be
the first thing to happen in the Brexit debate that everyone seems to agree on. 
It’s a waste of money. Trawling through Facebook comments I can see ‘I voted leave
but…’ and ‘Honestly, is this what we are…’ . Both sides of the aisle are finding
it hard to justify this cost. 

 

![Big Ben clockface and Union flag](https://wfay6x.infiniteuploads.cloud/2020/01/
big-ben-elizabeth-tower-houses-of-parliament-unsplash-copy-1024x625.jpg)

Big Ben must bong for Brexit campaign on GoFundMe (at 17 January 2020)

It’s not the first crowdfunding campaign that has motivated political responses 
but it seems to be one of the best. The more cases of ideas people disagree with
that get picked up as a crowdfunder, the better the public perception of impact 
of fundraising will become. 

So as you read that the [Big Ben must bong for Brexit campaign](https://www.gofundme.com/f/bigbenbongforbrexit)
has hit its goal (if it does, it’s on £220k of its £500k total as I write this) 
don’t despair at the impact that money could have on the needy. Rest assured that
the nation is watching and attitudes towards where donations should go are shifting.

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