The History and Evolution of Modern Fundraising
The Turn of the 20th Century
In the early 1900s, most philanthropy was at the local level. Back then, major national charities didn’t really exist. The American Red Cross’s annual budget was less than $3k in 1904 when Clara Barton resigned as president of the organization.
Around the same time, Lyman Pierce was assigned to raise funds to build a Young Men's Christian Academy (YMCA) in Washington, D.C., and he made the bold decision to partner with Charles Sumner Ward. This dynamic duo developed a campaign to fundraise the money and prepared to try things that had never been done before.
Pierce and Ward hired a publicist for their campaign and paid for advertising with corporate donations. Additionally, they strategically capped their campaign at 26 days. It worked. They raised the needed funds to build the YMCA in Washington D.C. and ended up administering the first “capital campaign” for the YMCA that raised about $60 million in capital funds. The pair began working on international, multi-million dollar campaigns by 1913.
World War I & Beyond
After his endeavors for the YMCA, Ward applied the strategies he had developed to fundraise for the American Red Cross—using materials like street-car signs, banners, and editorials to market and raise $100 million for the organization. The American Red Cross ended up raising $400 million in contributions during World War I, and by the time war ended in 1918, nearly one-third of Americans were either a donor or a volunteer for the organization!
The Red Cross was now one of the first major national humanitarian organizations. By 1925, more major national charities began to emerge, like the American Cancer Society, Boy Scouts of America, Girl Scouts, and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). As these organizations ramped up, so did their ability to collect more donations.
Charles Sumner Ward is credited with streamlining and improving the fundraising process, and little did he know that his techniques would be used for the remainder of the 20th century, well into the 21st.
The Rise of the Television
After World War II, the telethon era emerged. While only around 9% of American homes had a television in 1950, by that number skyrocketed to over 80% in 1960. Telethons transformed the world of fundraising by presenting a platform that could reach millions of people–far more than a charity could reach on its own. The most well-known telethon was hosted by Jerry Lewis in 1966 to raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. The telethon ran for 21 hours and raised more than a million dollars.
As time went on, telethons had to adapt to appeal to more modern audiences starting in the early 1980s. Television advertising allowed nonprofits to tell their narratives quickly—commercials weren’t cheap, but sometimes they really paid off. With commercials, nonprofits could catch the viewer’s attention by demonstrating the impact of their organization, including celebrity spokespeople, emotive music, and sometimes disturbing imagery to advocate for donations.
This ad style moved into a more positive direction with their pitches in the 90s, but we can’t forget about Sarah McLachlan and the American Society of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA). You know, those dramatic 4:00 a.m. commercials that forced you to get up and change the channel… if you could see through your tears? The ASPCA raised more than $30 million within the first year of the Sarah McLachlan ads.
Enter: The Internet
Nonprofits didn’t just use television in the late 20th century—they still used direct mail and in-person fundraising events, but behind the scenes, a new medium was on the horizon.
By the early 2000s, more than half of American households had access to the internet, and that number continued to grow in the following years. Just like they did with television, nonprofits had to adapt to the online world. Websites hosted accessible information about organizations and their causes, and email became a cost-effective way to reach donors. Online donations became more prevalent as users became more comfortable with paying for things with the click of a mouse.
Nonprofits began to use social media to their advantage to boost awareness, share information, and fundraise after Facebook became the most-visited social media website in 2008. Nonprofits once again had to adapt, making donating possible via smartphone. At this point, people could donate to a charity from anywhere, and mobile devices would soon become the dominant tool for digital giving.
Making a Colossal Impact
Fast forward to the present day, charities around the world struggle to raise enough money year-round to carry out and expand their missions. Fundraisers can be extremely expensive to operate, and many non-profit organizations lack the funds to staff, publicize, operate, and run highly effective campaigns. So they turn to professional fundraisers like Colossal (yep, that’s us!).
Colossal is paving the way for the future of fundraising. What makes us unique is that we fundraise for charities in a unique and powerful way—through competitions.
We partner with a variety of brands, publications, influencers, and charities to develop amazing prize packages for our competitions. To win a Colossal competition, one must leverage the power of social media and word-of-mouth advertising to garner the support of the public to collect votes. The candidate with the most votes at the end of the competition wins.
Every competition is optimized to run as lean as possible Proceeds raised from each competition are distributed to the designated charity minus fees and costs, and a small percentage is retained by DTCare.
Simply put, we’re just a group of people trying to leave the world a better place than we found it.
