The nominations for Professional Fundraising's who has the most staff and mates award is the "most influential person in fundraising" poll closes on Wednesday at 5.30.

Derek Humphries makes a very sensible case for one very influential person on his blog. His suggestion is that it should be cast for The donor. He makes a compelling argument…

"We all know that the most important person in any fundraising activity is your audience, the person or people you want to inspire to support you. If you don’t understand them and how to make their heart beat faster, their brain engage, and their spirit soar, then you and your beautifully prepared excel spreadsheet are stuffed."

The donor truly is the one person who matters. The person who makes the difference between success and failure. Without her (or him) we would all be out of a job and the world would be worse off as a result.

As anyone who regularly reads this blog might guess, I'm following his suggestion. And I'd very humbly suggest that you might like to consider doing likewise.

If you need a little further evidence, take a look at what one of the donors on charitybloggers.com has to say about the £50 a month she gives to our charities each month. What Redcookie writes is more important than the wisest musings of any expert. 

That's because she is actually doing the giving and, at the end of the day, that's what counts.

You can vote here…

http://www.professionalfundraising.co.uk/home/page.php?pg=15

…and hopefully make a massive point to the sector whilst you do so.

Update: the comments on Derek's post make for interesting reading too.