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

By Paul Barbagallo

Since then, the process of adopting online fundraising plans has been a slow, but steady, one. In August 2001, 41 percent of the 900 nonprofit organizations surveyed by the Gilbert Center, a Seattle, WA-based nonprofit research institute and consultancy, said they did not have an e-mail strategy. Only 4 percent reported having a successful program. In the same study, 36 percent said they collected e-mail addresses on their Web site, and only 23 percent said they published electronic newsletters.