“Money can be like this, too” – An ode to fundraising

2 days ago
4 min read

Money can sometimes seem abstract and difficult to grasp - an unavoidable force shaping everyday life but one we rarely stop to question. For Lily Mayer, an unexpected path into fundraising led to deeper reflection: what once seemed purely transactional revealed itself as something more human, and even a way of expressing trust, appreciation, and shared values. Here she explores how money, when guided by intention, can help build connection and community rather than simply circulate within a system.

To be honest, I’ve never really been able to understand what money actually is. How it comes into existence, what it has to do with gold, and how it’s possible that sometimes people just “print” it, while other times it simply appears as a number in our bank accounts. And how does all of this lead to the point where, in the end, almost our entire lives revolve around money? We spend most of our time at work to earn some of it – so that we can eat, have a place to live, and buy the experiences we want.

And of course: most of the time, there isn’t enough money. There isn’t enough to meet our basic needs, or if there is, it isn’t enough to live our ideal lives. And then there’s inflation: what used to be enough is no longer enough.

It was with this mindset that I entered – completely by accident – the world of fundraising. Over the past few years, this has become the focus of my work, and eventually – according to many – I’ve become good at asking people for money on behalf of various organizations.

Money can be more than just a means of payment

I still don’t like the fact that money has such a dominant role in our lives. But I’ve realized that we can indeed influence where it flows and what purpose it serves.

When we support an organization – or even a person in need – it’s not merely a financial transaction. There are emotions behind it. The intention is to reciprocate someone’s work and ensure they can continue doing what we value. Because they add to the world – and thus to our lives as well.

We can influence where money flows and what purpose it serves.

In such moments, money truly functions as I would ideally imagine it: we spend it not only on biological necessities, but also on what transcends mere materiality. Though this raises the question: aren’t quality journalism and civil society organizations that put their heart and soul into their work just as much the foundations of a good life?

Fundraising is a form of community building

When you think about it, this isn’t such a radical statement. When someone in our family, circle of friends, or community finds themselves in a difficult situation, the natural reaction is to “chip in” and help one another.

Supporting an organization is, of course, a different situation: here, we need to connect strangers for a common cause. But if we treat supporters as a community, over time a sense of belonging can develop among these people as well.

If they receive feedback on how many others, besides themselves, have supported the cause, they can feel: “Ah, there are 200 others for whom this – and the values it conveys – are important. I’m not alone; I belong somewhere.” That there are hundreds more for whom the same thing matters. And perhaps there are few things we seek more in this atomized world.

It’s not primarily about money, but about motivation. And everyone can have that.

Moreover, donating is often just the first step. From there, it’s easier to move on to active participation and in-person engagement, which provides an even stronger sense of community. And these communities are often surprisingly diverse. They may include members of the upper and lower-middle classes, or members of lower classes, workers and retirees (though to a limited extent, even people with surprisingly small pensions are often so dedicated that they spend their shamefully meager incomes on a cause important to them), bosses, subordinates, intellectuals, and manual laborers. Because, as I wrote earlier: in such cases, it’s not primarily about money, but about motivation. And everyone can have that. (Disclaimer: Of course, I’m not saying that anyone is obligated to donate regardless of their financial situation, because often this is truly impossible. But experience shows that it is often those in the most rationally vulnerable situations who give the most to others.)

Fundraising can also be an act of care

In our daily lives, many of us struggle with not receiving enough recognition for our work or other efforts – whether as friends, partners, parents, children, or citizens. One of the most beautiful aspects of fundraising is that support cannot be taken for granted here. You have to stop and say thank you.

Over the years, I’ve found the greatest joy in our donors when we simply thanked them for being there. When we reached out to them in writing or by phone just to say, “Thank you,” many didn’t know how to process it, and they’ve cherished that moment for years. This shows just how much such interactions are lacking.

Money need not merely be a tool for reproducing the existing system.

I wanted to show just how many deeper emotional and social layers there are to fundraising – an activity that many people are averse to even mentioning. And perhaps this is one of the most important lessons: that money need not merely be a tool for reproducing the existing system.

When people collectively decide to fund values, communities, and causes, they begin – even on a small scale – to take back control from the system that otherwise decides for them what constitutes value.

On a more personal note: although I will soon be leaving this work behind – perhaps permanently, perhaps just for a while – I will certainly carry the experiences I’ve gained here forward. From the online space into personal organizing.

Thank you to everyone from whom I’ve learned, with whom I’ve worked, and who made it possible for me to experience all of this.

This post was originally published in Hungarian here, it is translated and republished with permission.

Featured image from CANVA

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