Fund raiser Ayokunle Ankinyele takes a stab at blogging on the art of fund raising.

Fund raiser Ayokunle Ankinyele takes a stab at blogging on the art of fund raising.

Fundraising is the act/art of raising financial or material resources for a defined purpose. It is differentiated from a simple purchase of a good/service because of the mostly intangible nature of what the giver would receive in exchange for their support.

Fundraising takes many forms; from benefit concerts, walks/runs/rides to raise awareness for a disease or social issue, radio/television-thons, travelers/ unfortunates with placards all the way down to telephone fundraising.

There is a whole lot of good or bad work out there to be done considering the world we live in and how better or worse it could be and fundraising gets very necessary in this equation as a lot of it depends on individual goodwill on the part of the donor to remember why they should give a care about the work that is at hand and why the world might be made a better place by the simple act of digging in their pockets for change or whipping out a credit or writing a check as the case may be.


Fundraisers would be served very well to sit back and acknowledge:


- As stressful, exhilarating, painful, rewarding as things get over a period, their work is very necessary, for good or bad.


- In the course of actually doing said job, to clear the mind and focus on making the connection between their “employers” mission, why it remains necessary, and provide the specific details that 'assist' their prospective donors into concluding "Hey, there remains work to be done and it is time now to ask…. ‘How can I help?’”

That as a frame of mind necessary to facilitate exchange of cash or material support.

The fundraiser who is interested in doing well for themselves, their employers and possibly the state of the world SHOULD remember that humans are social animals and so while ‘big picture’ is being presented to potential donor, it is necessary to coherent, informed and engaged in the exchange.

Facts, tone, cadence, urgency and the wild card factor of exactly what is happening on the 'receiving' end of the engagement all combine to produce a range of reactions and experience that make fundraising such a fulfilling way of contributing to society/making rent and living in the many moments that their mission requires.


Lastly, grit, wit and dedication are a big part of the equation necessary to succeed in fundraising and it there always will be good runs and bad ones as a fundraiser moves towards their ‘target’. The very best and worst of human nature will be on intermittent display, one right after the other or even an extremely long stretch of one till one are just about to give it up for the shift or get discouraged for long term (Thinking maybe along the lines of “Why am I doing this??.”), and there is almost always that donor who heard the same thing that everyone did, but it was the exact right thing for them to hear at that point and the day/night is saved.