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

■ the rapidly changing best practices for e-mail, such as best days to send, vs. a more tried-and-true set of best practices for direct mail;

■ and, of course, new opportunities for mistakes.

That last one is a biggie, which makes it imperative that there’s a rigorous quality-control plan in place when organizations utilize e-mail messaging. Of course, you can “correct” an e-mail boo-boo with a quick resend, but given the breadth of the mistake, it might not be good enough.