Five tweets for fundraisers on 28 July 2021

Welcome to our latest pick of tweets about fundraising. We’ve got our usual mix of inspiration, analysis, humour, and the wider picture.

If you come across a tweet that you think deserves a place in future ‘five tweets’, let us know.

1. Never assume

Ben Swart started a thread with one of those golden stories of a donor whom Ben still thinks of 10 years later. Enjoy his story, and then follow the thread to see other examples of these examples of unexpected generosity.

The lesson is really about the generosity of those giving, but there’s also the sub-text that some of these gifts have been motivated by a kind word, professionalism, or someone going the extra mile. In other words, you never know who you are speaking to or how that conversation or interaction will be remembered.

Do read the full thread and the responses it has evoked.

1/ Sometimes I remember Mr.M, who over a decade ago sent a cheque in to our post room. Scrawled across it, in handwriting that was unmistakably that of an old frail man, he wrote £250,000. We thought it was a mistake. It wasn’t. We thought it would bounce. It didn’t.
— Ben Swart (@benswart) July 26, 2021

2. Hard wood for cancer charity

When life gives you lemons…

This is a delightful example of a knotty problem being turned into an amusing and apt fundraising opportunity for a particular charity.

One of my clients makes gorgeous handmade tables. They recently had a rejection because there was a natural knot in the wood that looks like a penis.

They've decided to raffle the table to raise money for testicular cancer at @orchidcancer

Enter here:https://t.co/0PFxj2hZvg pic.twitter.com/BFym2Eacu5
— Andy Chadwick (@digitalquokka) July 26, 2021

3. Chuffed chatters

Fundraising Chat on Facebook, founded by Lesley Pinder and Lucy Caldicott, continues to grow in numbers but also value.

Fundraising Chat, the peer led Facebook group that @LucyCaldicott and I set up as a resource for fundraisers to get day to day support, ideas and general good vibes from each other has hit 16,000 members. Definitely not what we expected six years ago. Pretty chuffed tbh
— Lesley Pinder (she/her) (@Skipinder) July 27, 2021

4. Fundraising in literature

Fundraisers don’t often get a good deal in literature. Here’s Ambrose Bierce’s waspish depiction, combined with an assumption that a fundraiser must be male.

5. More uncharitable thoughts about those doing good

Nichola Raihani brings Bierce’s depiction of fundraisers up to date, and views haven’t changed much.

Interesting article by @nicholaraihani – Why are we so uncharitable to those doing good deeds? https://t.co/RS4O7OkkDh
— Beth Breeze (@UKCPhilanthropy) May 23, 2021

from UK Fundraising https://ift.tt/3xasScy