Web Proves Vital in Katrina Relief Effort

The organization saw e-mail click-through rates rise from 4.5 percent to 39 percent the week following the hurricane, says Doug Smith, who handles Week of Compassion’s Web site.

Nonprofits weren’t the only ones rallying for funds. Mark Sutton, CEO of Justgiving USA, an online service that helps individuals fundraise for charitable causes online by setting up personal fundraising pages, notes that even before the hurricane hit Louisiana, one person had set up a Web page calling for donations of food. Less than two weeks after the hurricane, the Web page had raised $9,600.