From a big- picture perspective, fundraising is fundraising, whether it’s online or offline. That said, understanding the differences between the two channels, and the advantages of integrating them, is critical to your organization’s ability to build strong constituent relationships and maximize donations. Traditional offline marketing and fundraising tactics will continue to be a part of every development director’s toolkit. Direct-mail acquisition efforts elicit higher response rates than e-mail and provide a scalable way to source new constituents. One-to-one fundraising is equally as important because donors respond well to face-to-face, personal interactions. Although traditional offline marketing has its benefits, it is not free
Gene Austin
The true value of the Internet is in creating and sustaining constituent relationships to ensure ongoing support. This is achieved by implementing an online Constituent Relationship Management strategy to involve constituents -- especially donors -- in more than one activity so they can provide support for the organization in multiple ways. Consider the following factors when evaluating the overall success of your organizaton’s online fundraising efforts. DRIVE ONLINE AND OFFLINE GIVING Donors, like consumers, make gifts or purchases online based on individual preferences such as convenience and comfort with online transactions. For some donors, however, comfort still lies in traditional methods such as direct
The first step in any effective e-mail marketing strategy is to build an e-mail file — the fuel for your e-mail marketing efforts. Many nonprofit groups discover that, despite their large and detailed constituent databases, they have few supporter e-mail addresses on record. Although the prospect of building a usable e-mail file can seem daunting, you easily can grow your e-mail file using several proven tactics. Gather e-mail addresses offline Even if you’re just starting out with an online presence, you easily can begin developing your e-mail file by integrating e-mail address collection into your existing marketing or fundraising initiatives. Every time you communicate
