Fundraising is generally viewed as ‘asking for money’. This is essentially true. Whether you have been asked to support the local Little League baseball team or received a printed mailer that asked for your support to build a homeless shelter, you have likely been the recipient of a fundraising activity.
Fundraising can take place in many forms, some of which include face-to-face interactions, e-blasts, advertising campaigns (print and digital), stories in the media, social media campaigns, and formal written requests (grants) for support. The particular method of an ask is also dependent on the nature of the campaign — capital, program, or short versus long-term need(s).
‘Asking for the money’, however, is just one step within an intentional process at the organizational level. Whereas many community fundraising initiatives begin and end with an ask, organizations view fundraising differently. For organizations that have identified fundraising as a means to address community needs and/or support aspects of their services for which there are inadequate finances, fundraising is (or should be) followed by what is known as development.
Broadly defined, development is the careful nurturing and building of relationships over time between organizations and donors/philanthropists. In a sense, development could be seen as separate from fundraising. Effective development results in meaningful relationships that could be characterized as friendships.
Such relationships/friendships are based on trust, understanding, and shared values that enhance the experience of giving from the perspective of the donor/philanthropist. Development is thus an activity that takes place both before, during and after ‘the ask’ and continues at some level regardless of whether any money has actually been raised.
Effective development, then, helps to create, promote, and maintain a culture of philanthropy that becomes embedded within organizations and is not entirely dependent on individual fundraisers, but codified activities and processes.