As you may have read, I am also a college student. A communications major, college student at that. And that means I have been taking a lot of communications classes. One of my college classes this semester is Introduction to Public Relations. Part of the Public Relations class is writing weekly blog post or recording a weekly podcast. Essentially, I sided with the weekly blog assignment and that was the catalyst for Fundraising with Jenn.
I want to add a few upfront nerd-out tidbits about this class and then I will get on with the assignment and somehow “spin” it to be applicable for fundraising.
- The image in the student learning app is of MAL from FIREFLY! – Say what you will but I’m a browncoat for life. If you don’t get this reference, check Firefly out on Hulu.
- On all that is holy, she used the term “chaotic evil” in her lecture. Now that is a Dungeons & Dragons reference if I have ever heard one and, blended with the Firefly reference, I think we have ourselves a fangirl!
Now, on with learning some basics about “spin”.
What is Spin?
A very simple definition is – the way we turn something mediocre into something much, much better. It can also be a fancy way of telling a lie or exaggerating the truth. Spin can be a very positive thing or, it can be a negative thing. It’s a way of redressing something mundane into something only the elite can afford. And lastly, it’s something that can make someone feel good about something or, feel bad about something.
For example: My husband and I were looking for a new car about a year ago. We found this really awesome Ford Escape in red. If you know anything about speeding tickets, you know red cars get more tickets than say… a blue car. When we explained that we were really fans of the red car, the salesperson emphatically said, “Oh, that’s not red – it’s SALSA!” And, my dear reader, that is how you spin the color red.
Oh, we went with a Chevy Trax, in burnt orange. It’s not exactly red either.
The Origin of the “Spin”
Spin originated with Bill Clinton. Or did it? According to the book The Father of Spin: Edward L Bernays & The Birth of PR by John Stauber and Sheldon Rampton, the practice of spin started with… Edward Bernays. He was so good at spin in the 1920s he convinced an entire nation of women that smoking was beneficial to their health. But, while Bernays may have started it, Bill Clinton certainly gave it a whole new life in journalism when the Monica Lewinsky scandal was the big news in the 90s.
How does “Spin” apply to Public Relations?
I don’t know that we need any kind of fancy link or reference to this when we are seeing it every day. Spin becomes part of the job when you are doing any kind of marketing or journalism. Are you looking for an example? Let’s look at what is going on around us. COVID.
COVID sucks. It’s bad. It’s a flu that will most likely make you feel like you’ve been hit by a truck and maybe even kill you. But… it is literally someone’s job to tell you about the good things that are coming from this pandemic. In this case, it is imperative for people to have some “good” stories that are coming from a “bad” thing because we want to lift peoples’ spirits. We want to bring cheer and goodness to our communities. We want, and kind of need, those warm fuzzy feelings happy stories tell us.
Take a look at this story from a local news channel.
There is crisis but there is hope. Our community is coming together. Not only was the spin on this positive, it was critically important to get the news of hope during desperate times to people in need.
A “Spin” Warning for Fund Raisers
It really is amazing that we see all these wonderful stories right now. And this positive spin we, as fundraisers, are putting on our organization’s relief and assistance efforts are absolute truths. And the words and statistics we are using now, aren’t spins. They are allowing some organizations to meet or exceed in reaching their annual fundraising goals in record time. The spin will come later, next year. When we aren’t depending on a crisis to do our fund raising for us. When the urgency fades. When the services go back to normal. And we will have to be careful that our spin still accurately and transparently reflects the continued work that was important now, just as it was before this pandemic. And because we, as fund raisers that follow some form of the Association of Fundraising Professional’s Ethical Standards of Fund Raisers, and as humans know – spinning a lie will only hurt the organization you care so passionately about.
Fundraising with Jenn 