NET GAIN Make Donors Feel at Home on Your Homepage

A better scenario would be that an online donation instantly is followed by a thank-you e-mail, informing the donor how the gift will be used and its social impact.

But it can't stop there: The key to successful fundraising is to keep donors informed on an ongoing basis of their gifts' impact via a variety of communication vehicles. For example, enabling donors to log on to your Web site at their convenience and view their personal giving records — as well as the impact of those gifts — provides real-time acknowledgement of donation history and feedback on how those gifts are helping to further your cause. The result is donors become more engaged in your organization's cause. As they come to trust that their gifts are being put to good use, they're more likely to become repeat donors.