With giving levels on a slow climb, e-mail has emerged as a surprisingly effective fundraising tool.

By Paul Barbagallo

ENT and HSUS use a combination of Flash and Windows Media to ensure readability, but in the event of technical difficulties, embedded text in the e-mail instructs those recipients who don’t see the video to click a link to view it in their Web browsers.

Mann says most of HSUS’ messages contain a soft ask, since the organization is not using e-mail to directly solicit donations but, rather, to build program awareness.