Sector Report: Fundraising 2009-2010

Clinton O'Brien, vice president of business development, Care2
Gloomy economic talk in 2009 did not stop most of Care2's largest and most sophisticated nonprofit clients from buying even more online donor-lead acquisition campaigns from us than they had in 2008. For some of them, this was because they continued to get a strong ROI from the leads they acquired, even in a tough economy. (That's a testament in part to their fundraising prowess.) For others, the acquisition activity this year was more of a defiant bet on the future, by fundraising professionals who know that, when the recession ends and donors become more generous again, those nonprofits that have large e-mail lists of loyal supporters will be much better positioned to harvest the recovery.