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

By Paul Barbagallo

Michael Gilbert, founder and principle of the Gilbert Center, which publishes the Nonprofit Online News, says that a Web site built around an e-mail strategy is more valuable than a Web site built around itself.

“Stop obsessing about how many hits your Web site gets and start counting how much e-mail interaction you have with your stakeholders,” Gilbert says. “Stop waiting for people to discover your Web site, and start discovering their inboxes.”