Show me the coffee! Fundraisers to celebrate collective contribution

The day started three years ago when a few Brisbane-based fundraisers decided July 3 was the perfect day to high-five one another and acknowledge all the hard work of their respective EOFY campaigns. One of their number, Ryan Ginard, now with Minderoo Foundation, had just returned from the United States, where Fundraiser Appreciation Day is celebrated.

“We organised an informal breakfast in Brisbane, which was really no agenda, no speeches,” said one of the co-founders, David Sloan, head of philanthropy at Wesley Research Institute. “Ryan and I are friends, so I was, like, ‘Oh, come for breakfast because I’m just going to organise this with a couple of us – Tracy-Ann [Ganzer] was involved as well. And then it has gotten bigger and bigger and bigger, and became maybe 30 people that gather at 7.30 am at the Regatta Hotel here in Brisbane.”

Sloan said the group’s immediate enthusiasm for the idea highlighted the need for a moment when fundraisers could stop hustling, take a breath and reflect. “Tracy-Ann and I were going to catch up and high-five each other, but then just extended it out to the broader LinkedIn crew and everyone came! Everyone wants to get together and sort of take that moment to say, ‘Job well done, guys,’” he said.

Fundraiser Appreciation Day has now evolved to the point where this year’s events have a theme, “The power of the ask”.

The chief philanthropy officer for the Australian Wildlife Conservancy, Heather Little, was an early participant, enjoying the appreciation day as a chance to briefly bring fundraising as a career out of the shadows and into the spotlight.

“I think this is a great opportunity to bring forward those people who are in the background doing incredible work, and to really celebrate and recognise people who choose fundraising as a profession,” she said.

When Little was sponsored to move to Australia from the UK, she had to list her profession as “marketing and communications professional”, because fundraising was not listed as an option. The lack of recognition also makes it difficult to quantify the work of Australia’s fundraisers in dollar terms.

“The systems and processes need to change to recognise and acknowledge that we are who we are and we do what we do,” she said. “Then you could say, okay, when the ACNC [Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission] does its report and says this amount has been given to charity and it’s been facilitated through this amount of intermediary groups and this amount of fundraisers, we’d be able to really quantify that.”

It could be that Fundraiser Appreciation Day holds the key to acknowledgment of the profession, she says.

“The work we do is really challenging, but actually it’s one of the most rewarding professions you can possibly be in,” she said. “And it’s all about people. It’s all about connecting people to each other, having those shared challenges, having shared opportunities. I do see that there is potential as the word gets out and as we have more and more of these celebrations year on year, for it to grow exponentially.”

David Sloan is happy the idea has gained such traction. “It's a great movement and it’s great the momentum that’s come around it,” he said. “There is something on, I think, in every main city with people taking the time out to get together and really lean into the hashtag of sort of showing their appreciation. Where it goes to next, who knows? I think it’s just an opportune time for everybody in an organisation that is non-profit or charity to sort of bring visibility to their fundraisers that are in their organisation.

Sloan said fundraising was an art and a science, yet many organisations saw it as a department, rather than recognising the wider culture of generosity and gratitude.

“Fundraisers celebrate everyone else,” he said. “They’re brilliant at supporting the donors and shining a light on that and the mission of the organisation and people whose lives are being changed by some of the work. But when it comes to turning that same generosity inward, sometimes we’re not great at it. I think it’s brilliant to just carve out a morning or a day or something to say, hey, you matter, this matters and we see you.”

Fundraiser Appreciation Day was agenda-free, Little said.

“Nobody's asking each other for anything,” she said. “You don’t have to turn up and be like, ‘Oh, I’ve got to ask this person about this, and I’ve got to find out about their campaign and their appeal and find out what they’re doing with this major donor.’”

Sloan agreed, saying, “There has been the thirst for people to connect outside of formal forums. You know, if you go to any learning and development event, there’s always a purpose or context to it. But Friday is about people coming from across the city to one place just to high-five their colleagues and other charities to say, ‘I appreciate you.’ Quite literally, it is as corny as it sounds, but as wholesome as it sounds too.”

More information

Want to find a fundraiser appreciation day event near you? The website is here.