E-philanthropy Forum
As we gathered information for last month’s special section on e-philanthropy, we spoke to a number of folks whose comments didn’t make it into print. Following is a sampling of those comments. Some came from our own interviews, while others (marked accordingly) were in response to Katrin Verclas’ request for comments from members of the Nonprofit Technology Enterprise Network, of which she is the executive director.
— M.B.
Building relationships
“Online fundraising is growing rapidly. Donors are becoming increasingly comfortable with giving online and expect organizations to have Web sites that offer well-functioning online-giving options. At its core, though, fundraising is the same whether done online or offline. It’s about building relationships with donors and prospective donors. Organizations need to focus on their overall strategies for communication, cultivation and stewardship, and utilize the new technology in concert with traditional marketing and development strategies. They need to focus on data integration and personalized communication to appeal to donors as individuals.”
— Betsy Harman,
member, N-TEN, and principal, Harman Interactive
All about people
“Fundraising is all about people, and about building a relationship with people. Even fundraising with foundations is about people. And that’s why the technology is a means — not an end. Technology that involves you is what works, and works well. If video involves you — and well — then it’s a good thing. If it’s just a postcard, and that involves you, lets you feel empowered to make change happen, to make the world better, well, then a postcard is a good thing, too.
“Fundraising is all about community, involving you in one, linking you to one, or making you feel part of one. Sure, the polity of geography is still with us (we give locally, we give to our churches, we give to the local Boy Scouts), but the new polity is one of issues, of information, of community that spans the globe based upon a larger set of shared values.”
— Gavin Clabaugh,
board member, N-TEN, and
CTO, Charles Stewart Mott Foundation
Gentle persuasion
“The biggest challenge [fundraisers face in regards to technology] remains in finding methods acceptable to the donors to capture their e-mail addresses. The donors don’t want spam and are thus reluctant to provide their e-mail address. On the other hand, the charities want a lower-cost communication method. The key is to provide something to [donors] that they find attractive, such as an e-newsletter, that causes them to part with their e-mail address.”
— Geoff Peters,
president, Creative Direct Response
Ongoing dialog
“Organizations have to think of e-mail communications as an ongoing donor dialog, combining e-appeals with e-newsletters and perhaps special, members-only landing pages on Web sites, so that e-mail can continually engage and cultivate long-term giving.”
— Steve Maggio,
president, DaVinci Direct
That’s hot
“By far the hottest technology for e-fundraising is online video — hotter than blogs or RSS or social networking. The Web has exploded in video, as the infrastructures of the Web and TV are coming together. Nonprofits that don’t jump into this arena risk being drowned out by the media culture. We should be witnessing a dramatic uptick in media production by nonprofits and a resource shift from print materials.
“Those beautiful annual reports spend about two minutes on a desk and then an eternity in a landfill. (If we’re lucky, they make it to recycling.) New media can live online forever — and can be updated frequently and, increasingly, easily. Organizations that take advantage of the lower costs of production (everything is cheaper) are realizing that they have to stop telling and start showing people what they do. The smart ones are not creating media sections or video lists on their Web sites, but integrating media messages directly into their donation pages, into their content pages and making them a central piece of e-campaigns.”
— Michael Hoffman,
member, N-TEN, and
CEO, See3
Integration
“It’s critical that nonprofits be able to seamlessly integrate data between their online and offline systems. Effective data integration is key to conducting high-impact integrated marketing and fundraising programs, which drive increased giving and other forms of mission-critical support.”
— Gene Austin,
CEO, Convio
That’s hot II
“E-mail is the No. 1 fundraising tool on the Internet. It’s hot, though not new. There are organizations that are effectively using e-mail — CARE, for example. They have quality, not quantity, in terms of their list. They provide good content in their e-mail messaging. Another example is NARAL. They are experts at targeting and segmenting their lists.
“One of the hottest trends is micro-enterprise fundraising. People want to see where their donation goes and have a more intimate experience. In addition, e-mail messaging makes it very easy to close the loop with supporters and provide an update, often in real time, on what their dollars
have achieved. They can feel good knowing exactly what their dollars accomplished.
“There also is a lot of potential with audio and video. Humane Society of the United States has been using video as a fundraising tool for a long time. They send out e-mails telling people to watch the video [on the HSUS Web site], then include the ‘Donate Now’ button right on the same page as the
video link.”
— Sheeraz Haji,
CEO, GetActive Software
