An online petition in 2003 pushed the Human Rights Campaign into the world of online fund- and friendraising. And the organization never looked back.

By Margaret Battistelli Gardner

Shifting focus
Traditional direct-marketing channels have contributed in a major way to HRC’s success over the years — and remain a large and integral part of its fundraising mix — but there’s no denying that the Web is a significant new channel for the organization. How else do you explain an online strategy director? According to Grams, HRC’s fundraising model is appropriately integrated. And even though he and Crowley have been with the organization for 10 and 13 years respectively, they don’t struggle with the whole integration concept in the same way that many “old-school” fundraisers seem to. Perhaps that’s because HRC doesn’t draw as hard a line between donors and non-financial supporters as many organizations do.