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

Flexibility and quick reflexes have been the hallmarks of HRC’s development strategy, which has garnered some of the most significant numbers for online fundraising and support that the nonprofit sector has seen since Donate Now buttons became de rigueur on organization Web sites.

Dane Grams and Ann Crowley, HRC’s respective online strategy director and membership director, have become something of a dynamic duo when it comes to online fundraising — not to mention the darlings of the conference circuit. They talk enthusiastically about the organization’s strategies both online and off, but they’re quick to agree that much of HRC’s fund- and friendraising success — along with its political victories — is the result of being at the right place at the right time.