Fundraiser is a new investment profession

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Economic terms, whatever they may be, are increasingly penetrating the lexicon of ordinary citizens. We have long known what loans are, what insurance is needed for, and whether it is worth working on Forex. Not so long ago, a new word has spread - fundraising.

Fundraising: meaning of the term

A fundraiser is a person who is involved in attracting material, monetary, informational or human resources that a particular enterprise needs.

Consequently, fundraising is the process of organizing the attraction of these funds. Not quite clear? Let's move on.

What is the meaning of the word fundraiser? In order to understand the semantics, we need to refer to the English word fundraising, formed from the phrase to raise fund, which means “raising funds.”

Who needs fundraising and why?

Despite the fact that we live in the 21st century and, it would seem, we should have a good idea of the structure of cash flows and ways to redirect them, in the domestic economy, many issues related to raising funds seem incomprehensible to many. How do our non-business businesses operate?

They, for the most part, do not raise funds at all, but are content with what they get. As you understand, they don’t get a lot a priori, and therefore the company is either in dire need of help, or there is simply not enough money.

At the same time, if we turn our eyes to the West or even Europe, we will see that the situation is quite different there. Very often, entrepreneurs, without even developing a project, are already raising money for its implementation. This is due to the fact that the state participates little in the financing of social spheres. At its core, a fundraiser is the same investor, with the difference that funds are raised mainly for non-commercial projects, although they may well be used for commercial purposes.

Fundraising sources

Where do you get these resources, what is the source of fundraising? These can be private companies or individuals, state-owned enterprises and non-state foundations. How is fundraising done? In different ways, depending on who the above sources are. And they can be investors, sponsors, donors, philanthropists or a grant-giving organization.

Fundraiser: Fundraising Responsibilities and Tasks

So, what exactly does a fundraiser do? Of course, first of all, by raising funds from the sources mentioned above. Secondly, an important part of the fundraiser's duties is to build newconnections. Any project or organization needs friends who can support, advertise or offer profitable partnerships.

Besides, the new project should be publicized, and therefore the fundraiser is engaged in a kind of advertising of the organization's activities, informing about its goal and strategy.

It should be noted that according to the method of implementation, fundraising can be external and internal.

An internal fundraiser is a person who works directly in an organization, looking for sources of funding. The external is carried out with the assistance of special consultants, experts and fundraising firms.

Fundraising in Russia

In our country, fundraising appeared in the early nineties, along with the gradual development of various non-profit enterprises. Today, this discipline is taught at universities along with the basics of marketing, advertising, social management.

It should be noted that we still have a low share of the population and state enterprises involved in generating income for Russian non-profit organizations. However, the market situation forces us to look for new forms and ways of attracting funds, and therefore the process of fundraising development is underway, which is approaching the US level.

Not so long ago, namely in November 2013, the Association of Fundraisers of Russia was formed. The purpose of this association is to promote the development of philanthropy based on fundraising, subject to awareness andsupport of the people of the country. According to the director of the new association, Irina Menshenina, today the most important thing for the members of the organization is to raise awareness of the country's citizens about such an activity as fundraising. The Russians do not know that a fundraiser is a specialist in the field of raising funds, and they confuse honest activity with fraud.

The Association offers two types of membership - for individuals and for companies that can be businesses (structures or NGOs). The services provided by the Association are as follows:

• learning activities that are conducted in real time or remotely;
• informing members of the association;
• consulting activities on accounting, economic and legal topics;
• participation of members of the organization in social research.