E-Philanthropy

Hundreds of Denver-area nonprofit organizations are hoping for a generous outpouring of gifts during Colorado Gives Day, a 24-hour online charity drive beginning at midnight Wednesday.

Colorado Gives Day is an inaugural program of the Community First Foundation, an organization devoted to raising money for nonprofit groups in the seven counties of metro Denver.

Gifts will be accepted through GivingFirst.org, which allows donors to browse a database of more than 500 charities. Organizers are hoping to raise $1 million during the 24-hour drive.

Blackbaud announced that Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation selected Blackbaud Friends Asking Friends® as the online and offline event management solution for its newest fundraising event, Road Hockey to Conquer Cancer. The Foundation, which supports Canada’s leading cancer research institution, Princess Margaret Hospital, is using Friends Asking Friends combined with an innovative social media campaign to expand its supporter base and raise money for cancer research.

In unique partnership with the website JustGive, Matthews is letting fans direct the proceeds of two upcoming Seattle shows to the charities of their choice. Every ticket is matched with an equal donation to philanthropy.

"The point is the act of giving and making the process available," he said in an interview. "I think it may make people feel a certain amount of power to see the ease of how you can give."

Here are the four forever facts about fundraising.

Convio estimates that US giving during the 2010 holiday season to nonprofit organizations will be more than $48 billion across all giving channels --including online, direct mail and  donation at checkout – as more than 174 million adult Americans plan to give money to charity between Thanksgiving and year-end. Online giving alone is estimated to account for more than $6 billion, an increase of more than 30 percent from this same period in 2009.

Here are three online fundraising and communications best practices provided by Taryn Rosenkranz.

Between President Barack Obama's successful 2008 online campaign and the myriad tactics government nominees employed this fall, the political sphere has provided many lessons in regards to online fundraising and communications.

A new US study finds that Direct Mail is a more important driver to online giving than online communications.

More than twice as many online donors say they were prompted to give an online gift in response to a direct mail appeal compared to when they received an e-appeal, according to a national US study Dunham+Company recently conducted through research firm Campbell Rinker.

The survey says that in a surprising finding, 14% said that a direct mail letter prompted them to give online versus only 6% who said an email prompted their online gift.

Analyzing trends in the fundraising world is important on many levels. It lets you know what's happening in the industry, what that may mean for the future and how it compares to the past. Studying trends also lets you know where you stand compared to other organizations, allowing you to pinpoint what your organization is doing well and what it needs to work on.

The whole point of working with an online fundraising technology consultant is to make your life easier. But sometimes the consultant-fundraiser relationship can be just as difficult and complex as keeping up with all the new technologies themselves.