Its no time to alienate the wealthy
Howard Lake | 26 October 2009 | Blogs
Returning from the IFC last week I wondered if a new anti capitalist agenda had begun to gain voice with fundraisers – I really hope not…
Reeling from the global financial meltdown and the fallout from the banking crisis, fundraisers, like everyone else are dealing with recession. We try to balance our passion, even outrage at the injustice that fuels our work and the needs of our causes with donors who can make a difference. Last week saw the global community of fundraisers share their craft rooted in a deep passion for changing the world.
But the tone of some who took the opportunity to almost burn the odd banker or two felt out of place. It was like they had been let out for the day and had lost perspective. Now don’t get me wrong – if injustice fuels us then there needs to be a place for us to make our point. But turning every rich person into beelzebub is frankly stupid.
Advertisement
The generation of wealth is critical to fundraising. Its at the heart of philanthropy. So lets remember – wealth is good. How people get it is for debate and conscience. Our job is connecting wealth with injustice – the cause with the donor – the donor with the cause. Thats what we do. Alienating those who can make such an impact is indulgent, out of place and down right dangerous.
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.