The Showcase of Fundraising Innovation and Inspiration will be available at www.sofii.org, from Christmas. It will hold case studies and examples of best practice in fundraising activity, which will be available free of charge to international fundraisers.
“It is a dream I have had for some time,” said Burnett, who is a fundraising consultant and author. “I realised there's a gaping hole in our industry, in that we don’t know our fundraising history. We need a way of safeguarding it.
“As people like me come up to retirement, that information and understanding about fundraising will be lost. People won’t know who the great fundraisers of our time were.”
He added: “To make it relevant to fundraisers in India and Africa I knew it would have to be free.”
Burnett has secured £10,000 from Cascaid and Australian consultancy Pareto Fundraising to get the scheme off the ground. Donations in the form of time and resources have also been given by Burnett’s publishing company, White Lion Press.
Burnett aims to raise £150,000 but thinks he can build the site for less if he manages to recruit volunteers to help. He is looking for fundraisers, copywriters and IT experts.