The New Fundraiser – Italian fundraising book highlights imbalance of the donor-fundraiser relationship

The rules of the donor and fundraiser relationship must be rewritten to ensure both sides share equal importance, according to a new book by Italian fundraising professor Valerio Melandri and UK philanthropy lecturer and author Dr Beth Breeze.

Today (15th May 2019), I Nuovi Fundraiser (The New Fundraiser) is being unveiled to fundraisers at the twelfth annual Festival del Fundraising in Italy. The book summarises the findings of a new study of the Italian fundraising profession, presenting insight based on a survey of 2,000 fundraisers and dozens of interviews carried out by Melandri at the Philanthropy Centro Studi (University of Bologna), in collaboration with the Italian fundraisers association ASSIF and the Festival del Fundraising Association.

Melandri says:

“This book sheds light on today’s fundraising profession: who they are, how they work and what they aspire towards within a professional capacity. Exploring the fundraising-donor relationship, the study highlights the need to rebalance the power dynamic of that relationship, recognising that both parties are equally important. All too often the fundraiser is overlooked. But we cannot truly understand the actions of those giving without paying more attention to those who ask.”

This imbalance of the donor-fundraiser relationship will be further explored at today’s Italian fundraising conference, where 850 fundraisers are due to attend. The programme features over 60 workshop sessions, presented by 70 Italian and international fundraising experts.

Both Melandri and Breeze are members of EFA’s certification committee, contributing to the future development of fundraising qualifications across Europe.

The book is available for purchase here.