Story originally printed in the Winona Daily News or online at www.winonadailynews.com

Published - Monday, July 23, 2007

Global vs. local? International fundraiser to give talk at SMU

By Amber Dulek / Winona Daily News

The world is flat and the lines separating global and local economies have blurred and grayed, according to an international fundraiser visiting Winona this week.

“It’s really a quiet revolution, and it’s fundamentally changing the way the world works,” Jon Duchnisky, one of the leading advisors for European fundraising, said Sunday afternoon.

In a matter of 30 seconds, a person living in the U.S. can donate $100 to save baby sea turtles in Costa Rica, and million-dollar contracts are signed between local firms, Duchnisky said.

But has the “Save the Sea Turtles” fund over-flourished beyond its need? Have contracts that can be done cheaper by an Indian company been lost to local bidders?

Duchnisky will be discussing these questions for a presentation on the globalization of giving and fundraising tonight at Saint Mary’s Figliulo Hall. After founding the UK fundraising group Cascaid and working for the French Institute of Fundraising, the 31-year-old globetrotter teamed with U.S. advertising firm TBWA to start Resources Non-Profit, which trains fundraisers across the world, including universities, nonprofits and research organizations.

Changes in fundraising means local organizations can and should already be thinking globally, and individual donors are choosing causes based on personal preferences rather than global need, Duchnisky said.

This internationalization of world has taken away boundaries, he said, which means people should take more responsibility on which products they buy and the effect it has on other countries.

“There is no right and wrong or black and white in this,” he said. “People need to wake up and smell the fair-trade coffee. It’s now about all of us as individuals … global versus local doesn’t exist anymore.”

Reporter Amber Dulek can be reached at (507)453-3513 or amber.dulek@lee.net.