Begoña Gómez He returned to academic life this Tuesday, and he did so by presenting and coordinating an event for the master’s degree in Fundraising Management that he still co-directs at the Complutense University of Madrid. The event ‘Activism 4.0: generation Z and the future of the third sector’ was held at the CaixaForum, on Madrid’s Paseo del Prado, precisely the same day that Cadena Ser revealed that the Complutense closed its chair in Competitive Social Transformation due to the “harm” caused by the woman’s accusation of Pedro Sanchez in the image of the institution.
Minutes before the appointed time – 4:30 p.m. – around a dozen journalists were waiting at the doors of the CaixaForum building. In the same place, some members of the ultraconservative organization Hazte Oír, which is represented as a popular accusation in the Gómez investigation, carried a banner in protest. There were also many security forces in the vicinity of the place, and there was even a police van stationed in front of the building.
And among journalists, protesters and citizens unrelated to the event that was about to begin, a car with tinted windows has entered the building through a forklift. This is how the wife of Pedro Sánchez, investigated for influence peddling and corruption in business, has managed to enter the CaixaForum without being seen.
For greater discretion, entry to anyone who identified themselves as press has been banned. The event, which was broadcast on YouTube, was inaugurated by Begoña Gómez herself with a speech dedicated to young people and activism. The co-director of the master’s degree has highlighted the disconnection between “generation Z and third sector organizations”.
And he has proposed responding to this problem with “new communication strategies that connect with the youngest.” Although “90% of young people” are concerned about climate change and 75% about “social problems”, “85% of NGO databases are over 45 years old”. Starting from this paradox, Sánchez’s wife has raised the need to change the communication strategies of these organizations. Among the keys, he has highlighted the need for NGOs to have a greater image of “transparency” and proximity to attract young people, who give great importance to both issues.
As an example, he has pointed out that 72% of young people consider transparency as “a crucial factor when deciding which organization to support“and that one of the purposes of his master’s degree is to promote NGOs as platforms where young people can project their concerns, citing equality, climate change or health.
He also commented that “65% of recruitment strategies” are based on telemarketing, and will not be effective on young people who “are not going to pick up the phone.” “You have to work on a diversity of channels”the speaker concluded, “so that NGOs are the platform on which young people can show their social demands.”
Gómez’s brief presentation was followed by talks from several experts in the sector, and finally Gómez returned to the scene to coordinate a “discussion table” between all the participants. After this conversation, the event culminated with the performance of a orchestra of “generation Z” musicians belonging to the NGO Action for Music.
Although Gómez maintains his work as co-director of this master’s degree dedicated to raising public and private funds for NGOs, the Complutense University seems to have a conflict with the “damage” caused by their presence in the image of the institution. This was one of the reasons why it was decided not to renew the extraordinary chair of Competitive Social Transformation directed by Begoña Gómez, and the master’s degree of the same name that was developed within the framework of the chair.
The second reason, according to the resolution of the University’s Lifelong Training Commission, is the low demand for students in this master’s degree and the consequent lack of income that it has generated. The university was confident at the time that it was “a project with important possibilities”, but expectations have not been “validated”. Of course, despite the “reputational devaluation” caused by the investigation led by Judge Juan Carlos Peinado, the UCM currently maintains the master’s degree in Fundraising Management.
