History Of Fundraising

Nowadays Fundraising has become very common as it now more easier to donate small or large amounts of money online. However fundraising is not a 21st century invention, it has been active since the 1900's. as many people think that the majority of projects got their start around 20 years ago.

Organizations such as the YMCA utilized fundraising campaigns around the early part of the twentieth century. This enabled them to raise revenue to build YMCA'S around the globe. This creative idea was put forward by Charles Sumner Ward who is considered to be the godfather of modern day fundraising. In the late 1800's he came up with a very creative concept. While working as secretary for his office he noticed that he had been spending numerous hours trying to raise funds. He then developed a rather novel idea involving the general workers who then worked a half day doing office duties ,and spent the rest of the day carrying on fundraising campaigns. This idea worked so well that large amounts of revenue were gained from it.

This concept was so successful that it was utilized by other YMCA locations in the USA and eventually throughout the globe. Different branches in the United States raised hundreds of thousands of dollars which is equivalent to millions of dollars in today's currency. This has allowed the YMCA to acquire the distinction of being one of most successful non profit organizations in history.

This type of fundraising has also been put in practice by other organizations over time. It is now being seen in many other different variations such as phone calls, email campaigns and so on. The concept that Charles Sumner initiated in the late 19th century is still being widely used by major non profit organizations .