Shopping for Change: Commodifying Practices in Non-profit Fundraising Discourse

• Drawing on theories of marketized philanthropy and identity politics, this article strives to explore nonprofit fundraising as a discursive practice, connected to political, economic, and cultural processes of individualization and marketization. Fundraising texts from six Swedish aid organizations are analyzed, using critical discourse analysis, focusing on the representations of donors, and the act of giving. The research shows that fundraising messages are mainly configured around the act of donating as a form of transaction, where the donor buys a commodified version of the idea or efforts of the organization. Through the transaction of symbolical goods the organizations provide a form of participation that is quick and easy, a concrete way of ‘making change’. This suggests that the donation becomes a form of commodity activism which situates the donor in the position of customer, rather than citizen.

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Medie- och kommunikationsvetenskap -- Medievetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Media and Communications -- Media Studies (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Medie- och kommunikationsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Media and Communications (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Medie- och kommunikationsvetenskap -- Kommunikationsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Media and Communications -- Communication Studies (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Fundraising

Nonprofit

Marketization

Donors

Critical Discourse Analysis

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

kon (subject category)