Grooming Your E-list

Many nonprofits also build their lists by working with for-profit consumer Web sites such as Gather.com, Change.org, and Care2.com.

The Ploughshares Fund recently did three petition campaigns with Care2, growing its list more than tenfold in less than a year.

Additionally, contests are a great way to get people to provide their e-mail addresses as part of the entry process. In 2006, Citizens for Global Solutions ran an online contest soliciting Flash movies that drove 9,000 new registrations to its Web site.