225 | Has the annual fund become fundraising’s comfort zone?

225 | Has the annual fund become fundraising’s comfort zone?

The Fundraising Talent Podcast, a production of Responsive Fundraising

Very rarely do I have any idea where our podcast conversations will go, and perhaps it’s that uncertain outcome that our listeners find appealing. Along that line of thinking, my conversation today with Steven raises the question of whether the annual fund and its various iterations has simply become fundraising’s comfort zone. Steve got us started with the question of why we are so content with the annual fund as a sort perpetual subsidy on the remainder of the fundraising effort and whether perhaps the healthier approach would be to lessen our dependency as donors transistion into more meaningful levels of engagement with our organizauon.

Our comfort in the annual fund reminded me of what author David Epstein calls the cult of early specialization and how he describes the ease with which we can find ourselves professionally stuck in work that is not meaningful or rewarding. It also reminded me of the question that Paulo Freire might have challenged us to ask ourselves: has our comfortability in the annual fund come at the expense of the freedom that can only be found by exploring beyond what’s efficient and predictable and ensures our greater sense of control.

As always, we are grateful to CueBack for sponsoring The Fundraising Talent Podcast.