{"id":16747,"date":"2019-10-08T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-10-08T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.causevox.com\/?p=16747"},"modified":"2024-05-08T23:23:19","modified_gmt":"2024-05-08T23:23:19","slug":"fundraising-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.causevox.com\/blog\/fundraising-history\/","title":{"rendered":"120 Years Of Fundraising History: What Can We Learn?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Since there have been good causes to support, there has been fundraising.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Communities have rallied to meet needs around the globe and throughout history. In the last one hundred years or so, the \u201chow\u201d of fundraising has changed dramatically.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The ways we raise and give money constantly change due to new situations, needs, priorities, and technologies.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So let\u2019s go on a little journey through time to see how fundraising has changed in the past century, and see what we can learn to fundraise today from fundraising history.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone size-medium wp-image-16748\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/causevox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/allef-vinicius-468838.jpg\" alt=\"Hands holding a wallet, removing folded one dollar bill.\" class=\"wp-image-16748\"\/><figcaption>Whether dollars or gold doubloons, people have always given to causes they care about.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Going Way Back: Fundraising Before 1900<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you want to write a doctoral thesis on pre-1900 fundraising, you will have plenty of fascinating material. But I am going to take a wild guess that you don\u2019t actually want to read that thesis right now.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So, for the sake of brevity, we\u2019ll skip the deep-dive into academics, and instead, provide you with some quick historical fundraising facts to wow your peers at your next cocktail party.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Quick Fundraising History Facts:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Charitable giving is featured in the holy texts and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/hds.harvard.edu\/news\/2013\/12\/13\/why-give-religious-roots-charity#\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">practices <\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism, among other religions.&nbsp;<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Sung Dynasty ran soup kitchens in China in the 10th century.<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 1552, Roxelana, wife of the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, opened a charitable complex in Jerusalem for widows, orphans, and the poor.<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Zulu tribe\u2019s tradition of giving, in which givers and receivers are equals, was established in the 17th century.<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The word \u201cphilanthropy\u201d came into the English language in 1600.<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 1601, the Statute of Charitable Uses is passed in England, putting the responsibility to care for the poor on local parishes. The revolutionary thing about this practice is that the implementation of what we\u2019d now call \u201cprograms\u201d was done in the private sector, but overseen by the government.<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Benevolent societies and charitable endeavors like schools, refugee relief, orphanages, and hospitals popped up all over the world in the 18th and 19th centuries.<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Salvation Army ran their first Christmas Kettle street campaign in 1891.<\/span><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pioneers of Modern Fundraising:1900-1915&nbsp;<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So we\u2019ve established that the charitable principles that drive giving have remained consistent across history.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By 1900, communities and people gave to help others in need, make changes, and build new things for centuries. However, the way they raised funds to support these services changed dramatically around this time.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How did modern fundraising come to be? Let&#8217;s take a look at fundraising history.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It all started with the YMCA.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone is-resized size-full wp-image-16749\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/causevox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/village-people.png\" alt=\"The Village People, wearing their distinctive costumes.\" class=\"wp-image-16749\" width=\"591\" height=\"394\"\/><figcaption>Nope.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone is-resized size-full wp-image-16750\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/causevox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/ymca.jpg\" alt=\"ymca-fundraising-history\" class=\"wp-image-16750\" width=\"591\" height=\"297\"\/><figcaption>This one.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The fundraising efforts of two early 20th century pioneers at the Young Men\u2019s Christian Association defined the tools and techniques that were used in modern fundraising for the rest of the 20th century, and into the 21st.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here is the short version of the story: Frank L. Pierce was tasked with raising money to build a YMCA in Washington D.C. In two years of campaigning, he raised $270,000, but still needed $80,000, and donations had stopped coming in.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Let\u2019s take a moment to empathize with Mr. Pierce. We\u2019ve all been there, at the tail end of a campaign, watching tumbleweeds drift by instead of checks coming in. It\u2019s not fun at all.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fortunately, Pierce was about to get a partner who would help him raise the money, and invent modern fundraising in the process.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 1905, Pierce partnered with Charles Sumner Ward. The two men created a campaign to raise the rest of the money, trying things that no one had ever done.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Top 3 Innovations of the YMCA School of Fundraising<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pierce and Ward engaged a publicist for their campaign and used corporate donations to pay for advertising<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They purposely kept their campaign short, capping it at 27 days<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They created a \u201ccampaign clock\u201d to measure the time passing<\/span><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It worked very well. Pierce and Ward raised the money, and by 1913, they were working internationally, running multi-million dollar campaigns using the techniques they\u2019d developed.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At about the same time, Bishop William Lawrence, the pastor of St. John\u2019s Memorial Church at Harvard and head of the alumni association, was asked to raise $2.5 million to increase the liberal arts professors\u2019 salaries.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Raising money for salaries was new for college fundraising. Historically, alumni had given to capital campaigns, but would they give without the promise of a new building or campus improvement? It was up to Lawrence to find out.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone is-resized size-full wp-image-16751\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/causevox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/capital-campaign.jpg\" alt=\"Black and white photo of brick building on college campus.\" class=\"wp-image-16751\" width=\"591\" height=\"433\"\/><figcaption>People love buildings.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He raised the money, mostly by appealing to alumni in a \u201cgenteel\u201d manner, via a letter asking for their help. The alumni came through, and Lawrence is credited with creating the college endowment building drive.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lawrence\u2019s approach was deeply respectful of his audience, and he kept things low-key on purpose. \u201cIf you dominate or dragoon a man by your personality, you may get his money once, but not the next time,\u201d he once said.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And so Lawrence&#8217;s successful approach has been solidified in our fundraising history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Early 20th Century Takeaways<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The techniques established by Pierce, Ward, and Lawrence are still in use today, whether or not we know to credit them. In fact, they\u2019re all over CauseVox, and you\u2019re probably already using them year after year.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone is-resized size-full wp-image-16752\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/causevox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/causevox-countdown.png\" alt=\"A CauseVox campaign that shows total raised, and a campaign progress bar\" class=\"wp-image-16752\" width=\"593\" height=\"375\"\/><figcaption>Countdown of days? Progress bar? It\u2019s the modern version of Pierce and Ward\u2019s campaign clock!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fundraising During the World Wars: Getting Organized<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Civilian fundraising was a big part of life on the home front during both World Wars. Fundraising professionals and private citizens joined together to raise money to support the military, hospitals, and the Red Cross.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Many small, local charities merged during WWI (1914-1918) to increase their effectiveness, and many chose to remain big and national after the war was over.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/causevox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/aredcrossvert-g.jpg\" alt=\"red-cross-history-of-fundraising\" class=\"wp-image-17466\" width=\"587\" height=\"881\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">During the Great Depression (1929-1939), people remained charitable, even when their resources were limited. Changes in the tax law made corporate donations possible to an extent, and they became a bigger part of the fundraising pie.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fundraising also shifted to include appeals to lower and middle-class donors, rather than only seeking major gifts from wealthy people.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/causevox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/giphy-2.gif\" alt=\"Donna Reed in It's A Wonderful Life holding out a handful of money and asking, &quot;How much do you need?&quot;\" width=\"591\" height=\"443\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">WWII (1939-1945) brought a return to war-focused fundraising, and concentration on a cause. People came together to support the troops and try to solve the social issues caused by war, like famine and refugee resettlement.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fundraising Takeaways<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Major gifts are great, but don\u2019t forget the average donor&#8211;small gifts can make a big difference.<\/span><\/li><li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Corporate partners can give you a lift, even when the economy isn\u2019t so good<\/span><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Post-War: Enter the Television (1949-1970)<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s hard to express just how much television changed the world. From what we buy, to how we talk, television has shaped our culture in a myriad of ways by bringing images, messages, and people directly into our homes. Thus, it\u2019s no surprise that television changed fundraising history.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The first telethon was in 1949. Telethons may seem old-fashioned now, but this was cutting edge technology in 1949.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Before World War II, there were approximately 7,000 home televisions in America. In 1950, only 9% of American homes had a television set. But by 1960, that percentage was dramatically higher at 87%!<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The structure of telethons was established early on, and did not change drastically for many years.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It featured a long block of airtime (the \u201c\u2018thon\u201d of the telethon, as in \u201cmarathon\u201d) hosted by a celebrity. The show alternated between entertainment and appeals for pledges to benefit a charity.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Telethons changed fundraising by offering a broader platform than a charity could reach on its own. In the days before cable, with limited channels, if someone was going to watch TV, there was a pretty good chance they would encounter your telethon.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In addition to raising money, this method also raised awareness of the causes.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/causevox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/telethon.jpg\" alt=\"fundraising-history\" class=\"wp-image-16754\" width=\"588\" height=\"331\"\/><figcaption>Jerry Lewis hosting Telethon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The most famous of telethons began in New York City in 1966, when the Muscular Dystrophy Association\u2019s Labor Day Telethon, hosted by Jerry Lewis, first aired.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The 21-hour event raised more than a million dollars out of the gate, prompting Lewis to paint an extra digit on the pledge counter display.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 1968, the telethon was shown on four additional stations in New York and Massachusetts. WHEC-TV chose to cut away from the program to show local volunteers taking calls, and another standard feature of telethons&#8211;the local segment&#8211; was born.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By 1970, the MDA Telethon was broadcast coast-to-coast. It ran nationally, hosted by Lewis, until 2010, and then underwent a change in format\u2014 shorter and more appealing to modern audiences.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Don\u2019t Change The Channel: Fundraising Commercials (1980-2000)<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Telethons weren\u2019t the only fundraising happening on television. Taking a page out of the Ward and Pierce YMCA book, nonprofits started advertising campaigns on TV, a practice that continues to this day.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Television advertising is expensive, but in the early 1980s nonprofits took advantage of less in-demand time slots (i.e. late night, early morning), and the lower rates available on the new cable television.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Advertising on TV allowed nonprofits to tell stories quickly. It used all the tools of commercial advertising to demonstrate the impact of organizations, including evocative music, intense or even disturbing images, and hard-sell pleas for donations from celebrity spokespeople.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Commercials weren\u2019t cost-effective for every organization, but when they paid off, they really paid off.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sally Struthers became the celebrity spokesperson for the Christian Children\u2019s Fund in 1976 and is credited with bringing the organization millions of dollars. Her work, first for the CCF, and later for <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.savethechildren.net\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Save the Children<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, became iconic.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone is-resized size-full wp-image-16755\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/causevox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/sally-struthers.jpg\" alt=\"fundraising-history-childrens-fund\" class=\"wp-image-16755\" width=\"587\" height=\"397\"\/><figcaption>Remember these ads?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Television advertising was not without controversy. The emotional and dramatic storytelling style of some charity ads<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/goatsandsoda\/2015\/09\/30\/439162849\/at-what-point-does-a-fundraising-ad-go-too-far\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> crossed the line<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> into exploiting the populations it sought to serve, portraying people in the developing world as helpless victims, with little regard for their dignity.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This style of ad fell into disfavor, and organizations (generally) moved in a more positive direction with their imagery and fundraising pitches in the 1990s. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the 21st century, TV advertising continues to be effective for some organizations. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals raised<\/span><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2008\/12\/26\/us\/26charity.html\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> $30 million<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in the first three years of running their ad featuring singer Sarah McLachlan.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/causevox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/sarah-maclachlan-zoom-c86fd7ec-9372-4663-aec1-4d0a0fd1f002.jpg\" alt=\"aspca-fundraising-history\" class=\"wp-image-17467\"\/><figcaption>I will give those puppies anything they want, as soon as I stop crying<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">During the latter half of the 20th century, nonprofits didn\u2019t only use TV, of course. They continued to use direct mail letters and in-person <a href=\"https:\/\/www.causevox.com\/fundraising-events\/\">fundraising events<\/a>, but a new game changer, even bigger than television, was quietly developing&#8230;digital fundraising.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lessons From The Late 20th Century<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Emotional and visual storytelling works<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is possible to go too far. Respect the populations you serve.<\/span><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Online Fundraising (2000-present)<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Internet<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 1997, 18% of American households reported accessing the Internet. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.infrastructureusa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/p20-569.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By 2003, more households than not (54.7%) had Internet access<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/causevox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/history-of-fundraising-census-internet-use.png\" alt=\"A chart showing increasing home internet use from 1984-2011\" class=\"wp-image-16757\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This upward trend continued in the following years. Like television before it, the technological advance of computers and the Internet would radically change society within a decade. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nonprofits began to adapt to this change. At first, they used the Internet much as they had print and direct mail&#8211;websites provided static information about organizations and their causes, like a brochure, and email emerged as a lower-cost way to distribute appeals and newsletters.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As people became more comfortable paying for things online (Paypal was founded in 1998), <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.businesswire.com\/news\/home\/20050616005233\/en\/Study-U.S.-Online-Giving-Surpasses-3-Billion\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">online donations became more common.\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Social Media<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the early years of the 21st century, the Internet became even more interactive. Facebook was founded in 2004 and allowed nonprofits to start pages in April of 2006. At this time, nonprofits began to use social media to build relationships, share content, and fundraise.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Artists, musicians, and entrepreneurs started using the Internet to raise money for their projects in the late 1990s, and \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.causevox.com\/crowdfunding\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">crowdfunding<\/a>\u201d hit the mainstream in the early 2000s.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once again, the technology was new, but the message was classic&#8211;if everyone pitches in, we can make something new.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Social media provided an easy way for people to share projects with their entire social network at once. Soon, platforms designed to raise money became commonplace, and nonprofits began to experiment with crowdfunding.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mobile<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 2007, Apple introduced the first iPhone, and Google\u2019s Android followed in 2008. These smartphones were not the first mobile phones to connect to the Internet, but they ushered in a new era of usability and connectivity.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Suddenly, it was possible to donate to a charity online from anywhere, not just your home computer. Nonprofits and crowdfunding had to adapt again to make giving possible via smartphone and text message.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So Why Does Fundraising History Matter?<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At this point, you may be thinking, \u201cNeat. I know when the first telethon happened. Thanks. BUT HOW DOES THIS IMPACT MY FUNDRAISING NOW?\u201d&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I\u2019m so glad you asked.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fundraising is diverse. When something works, we keep it until it doesn\u2019t. (Okay, let\u2019s be real: Sometimes we keep it after it doesn\u2019t, and that\u2019s something we need to work on in the nonprofit sector).&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Salvation Army fundraises online, <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and <\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">puts red kettles on street corners, much as they did in the 1890s, to the tune of <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">$149.6 million in 2016. Most organizations send fundraising letters like Bishop Lawrence <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> post on Facebook. You might find something in history that works for you now.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">More importantly, it\u2019s vital to see what is universal in fundraising. Whenever we experience a big technological shift, it can feel intimidating. It\u2019s like your whole job just changed right under you. But the thing that unites fundraisers from 1900 to right now, is connecting communities to causes.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At CauseVox, we\u2019re part of the technological shift to digital giving. Our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.causevox.com\/peer-to-peer-fundraising-software\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">fundraising platform<\/a> provides a way for nonprofits to connect their communities to their causes, with less complexity and more results. We help nonprofits raise money with less wasted effort and more time for building relationships.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">People give because of storytelling, because they want to make a difference, and because they care about other people. Our job is to help people give. CauseVox makes it easy for your donors and simpler for you.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As a profession, fundraising is quite young. We\u2019ve made tremendous progress in organization, professionalism, and technology in the last 120 years of fundraising history.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As we move forward, there\u2019s no doubt that we\u2019ll make new discoveries, try new techniques, and develop new technologies<\/span>. The top fundraising techniques today are bound to become fundraising history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Still, the more things change, the more some good things will stay the same: people, caring, and generosity.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">CauseVox Helps You Raise More With Less Clunky Tech<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a rel=\"noopener\" aria-label=\"Sign up for CauseVox (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/admin.causevox.com\/signup\" target=\"_blank\">Sign up for CauseVox<\/a> and see for yourself how new, better fundraising tools can help you raise more money with less hassle.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Since there have been good causes to support, there has been fundraising.&nbsp; Communities have rallied to meet needs around the globe and throughout history. In the last one hundred years or so, the \u201chow\u201d of fundraising has changed dramatically.&nbsp; The ways we raise and give money constantly change due to new situations, needs, priorities, and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":51845,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article"],"acf":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/www.causevox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/allef-vinicius-468838-600x400.jpg","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/www.causevox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/allef-vinicius-468838-600x600.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"Olivia Hosey","author_link":"https:\/\/www.causevox.com\/author\/ohosey\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.causevox.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16747","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.causevox.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.causevox.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.causevox.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.causevox.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16747"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.causevox.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16747\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.causevox.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51845"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.causevox.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.causevox.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.causevox.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}