You might have noticed that Twitter is adding contextual or warning labels to tweets from public figures that are misrepresenting the truth or otherwise distributing misleading or unverified content. This has been applied to tweets about COVID-19 and to tweets about this month’s Presidential election in the USA.

“This claim about election fraud is disputed” says one, with a link to an independent source of information, with others stating “multiple sources called this election differently” and “some or all of the content shared in this Tweet is disputed and might be misleading about an election or other civic process”.

The need for a social media company to have to counter statements from democratically elected government leaders is alarming. But the labels have inspired several fundraisers to share with wry humour some widely encountered myths of fundraising.

DIRECT MAIL IS DEAD !!

ⓘ 𝗢𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴

— David Lacey (@_David_Lacey) November 17, 2020

We don't have any potential major donors that we're unaware of.

ⓘ 𝗢𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴

— Beth Upton (@Beth_Upton) November 17, 2020

Donors can't wait for #GivingTuesday

ⓘ 𝗢𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴

— John Thompson – FR consultant & recruiter (@JTCHANGINGBIZ) November 17, 2020

Community Fundraising isn’t worth investing in, it doesn’t make good enough returns.

ⓘ 𝗢𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴

— Jonathan Cook (@jonathan_m_cook) November 17, 2020

You can find out more about Twitter’s approach to highlighting and challenging misleading information.

Which myths about fundraising would you suggest deserve an “official sources stated that this is false and misleading” label? Share them (or your tweet if you tweet your response) in the comments below.