Been wondering whether it’s fundraising or fund raising?
Wonder no more. Exhaustive research at Google Books Ngram Viewer (it took all of 20 seconds!) tells us what a zillion books are saying:
While the two-word version dominated until the mid-1980s, the one-word usage is now five times more common.
Don’t be uncool and call it “fund raising” in front of your friends!
That’s a cool comparison in printed books!
I did a quick Google search across the web (I think that’s probably a better reflection of current usage) and viola! It came up with the same answer . . .
1) “fundraising” found in 24.8 million pages:
http://tinyurl.com/google-fundraising
2) “fund raising” found in 12.2 million pages:
http://tinyurl.com/google-fund-space-raising
Although, it does bring up the issue of SEO. If you’re trying to compete for ranking in the search engines for a niche fundraising keyword phrase, you’d have to take in the consideration both —
A) Most people looking for fundraising related content on the web are probably going to try the single compound word variation in searches. So it makes sense to use what people use when they’re trying to find sites like yours.
B) But strategy A above also means that there would be more “competition” for those categorical phrases in the search engines. It would be harder to rank higher, or even get on the first page of results. Thus it might be strategic to spend the time and energy developing content pages that target the two-word flavor of “fund raising” so that the 1/3 of the market that spells it that way can find your site/pages. And as an added bonus, Google Suggest might offer the alternative spelling view of their results when the same keyword phrase is entered, using the compound word spelling.
Interesting finding though, Jeff!
Kenny
That’s a cool comparison in printed books!
I did a quick Google search across the web (I think that’s probably a better reflection of current usage) and viola! It came up with the same answer . . .
1) “fundraising” found in 24.8 million pages:
http://tinyurl.com/google-fundraising
2) “fund raising” found in 12.2 million pages:
http://tinyurl.com/google-fund-space-raising
Although, it does bring up the issue of SEO. If you’re trying to compete for ranking in the search engines for a niche fundraising keyword phrase, you’d have to take in the consideration both —
A) Most people looking for fundraising related content on the web are probably going to try the single compound word variation in searches. So it makes sense to use what people use when they’re trying to find sites like yours.
B) But strategy A above also means that there would be more “competition” for those categorical phrases in the search engines. It would be harder to rank higher, or even get on the first page of results. Thus it might be strategic to spend the time and energy developing content pages that target the two-word flavor of “fund raising” so that the 1/3 of the market that spells it that way can find your site/pages. And as an added bonus, Google Suggest might offer the alternative spelling view of their results when the same keyword phrase is entered, using the compound word spelling.
Interesting finding though, Jeff!
Kenny
perhaps I’m fighting a loosing battle, but I always prefer the term Fund Raising over fundraising. It takes it from a one off event to an active, on going way of operating. A Fund Raiser puts on a fundraiser. Does that make sense? So as a company we’re trying to build products that help people raise funds – fund raising products as an ongoing effort – a specific fundraiser will drive people to the site…
Perhaps I’m splitting hairs.
perhaps I’m fighting a loosing battle, but I always prefer the term Fund Raising over fundraising. It takes it from a one off event to an active, on going way of operating. A Fund Raiser puts on a fundraiser. Does that make sense? So as a company we’re trying to build products that help people raise funds – fund raising products as an ongoing effort – a specific fundraiser will drive people to the site…
Perhaps I’m splitting hairs.
Someone should tell spell check.
Someone should tell spell check.
The future of fundraising is not about social media, online video, or SEM. It’s not about any technology, medium, or technique. It’s about donors. If you need to raise funds from donors, you need to study them, respect them, and build everything you do around them. And the future? It’s already here. More.
Jeff Brooks has been serving the nonprofit community for more than 35 years and blogging about it since 2005. He considers fundraising the most noble of pursuits and hopes you’ll join him in that opinion. You can reach him at jeff [at] jeff-brooks [dot] com. More.
The future of fundraising is not about social media, online video, or SEM. It’s not about any technology, medium, or technique. It’s about donors. If you need to raise funds from donors, you need to study them, respect them, and build everything you do around them. And the future? It’s already here. More.
Jeff Brooks has been serving the nonprofit community for more than 30 years and blogging about it since 2005. He considers fundraising the most noble of pursuits and hopes you’ll join him in that opinion. You can reach him at jeff [at] jeff-brooks [dot] com.
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