Trends and Changes in Global Fundraising
Featuring content from some of the most respected fundraisers in the nonprofit sector around the world, a new book edited by Bernard Ross, co-director of the Management Centre, and Penelope Cagney, principal of The Cagney Co., is a look into the interconnectedness of charity fundraising and tracks how it is changing rapidly due to a variety of conditions.
Here, Ross gives us some insights into the book, “Global Fundraising: How the World is Changing the Rules of Philanthropy.”
FundRaising Success: What was the impetus for producing this book? Why now?
Bernard Ross: We produced the book now in response to a sense that the charity world was changing quite fundamentally in a way the business world had already done. And in the same way as many answers to commercial change lie in the world outside North America and Europe, so it’s true that some of the very best fundraising is happening in the global south.
It’s also worth saying that the Association of Fundraising Professionals — so often criticised for being insular — is becoming more international and that its visionary publishing committee was keen to do something that fit with that vision.
FS: Why do fundraisers need an international perspective, particularly if they aren’t fundraising for global organizations or issues?
BR: The book is only partly about global issues. A lot of it is about what’s cool and exciting in Kenya or South Korea or Brazil. So fundraisers anywhere can adopt or adapt ideas. What’s interesting is:
- How similar people are worldwide — the same passions, desires, needs and motivations. So much fundraising is internationally relevant.
- How different people can be in terms of what works in one culture doesn’t work in another. So, by the same token, people are genuinely different too.
