Fundraising's Changing Face

2. In four years, 13 percent of all consumer retail and travel dollars will be spent online. Forrester estimates that online commerce will total $329 billion by 2010. Already, 40 percent of U.S. households have made purchases via the Internet. The Forrester research also shows online buying is surging. What does this mean for fundraisers? Forrester reports current usage statistics that can be easily translated to the fundraising enterprise. For example, of online consumers today, 42 percent have e-mailed a customer-service inquiry, while 33 percent have tracked a package, 28 percent have searched for free offers and coupons, and 22 percent have visited comparison-shopping engines. These online behaviors translate into donor-service inquiries, contribution tracking, matching-gift offers and “where best to give my money” inquiries. Today’s trend-setting fundraisers are developing online tools that will empower their donors to do all of these things quickly and easily using the Internet.