Kintera Inc.

Add Ease to the Ask April 11, 2006 By Abny Santicola, editor, FundRaising Success Advisor When it comes to Web site fundraising, it's important to get the basics down. First thing, says John Murphy, vice president of professional services for Kintera, is getting people to your site. Search-engine optimization -- using keywords that best describe your organization so that when potential donors conduct a search via a search engine, your site is picked up by search-engine spiders -- is a good start. "If someone's searching about your cause, it's going to bring up your Web site," Murphy says. Even more basic is including your

The main fundraising-related goal of all nonprofit organizations should be to create a great giving experience for donors.

Retention is Key DRM Component March 7, 2006 By Abny Santicola, associate editor, FundRaising Success One of the key indicators of your donor relationships' quality is your retention rate. Lapsed donors and those failing to send second gifts are the No. 1 signs of failed relationships. And everyone knows that trying to reactivate a lapsed donor is far more costly than nurturing existing ones. This was the topic discussed by Heather Burton, production marketing manager at Sage Software Nonprofit Solutions; Nick Stavarz, president of Synergy Direct Marketing Solutions; and Jon Thorsen, general manager at Kintera, in their session on donor retention at the DMA

Survey: Consumers Prefer Charitable Contributions to Traditional Holiday Gifts Dec. 27, 2005 By Darryl Gordon Charitable giving is expected to be a popular trend in gift-giving this season. According to a recent survey by San Diego-based technology services provider Kintera, three out of four consumers would prefer to have a charitable contribution made in their honor than receive the traditional tie or scarf this holiday season. The survey of more than 600 consumers also found that a majority of respondents would consider giving charitable gifts this year. For example, 56 percent of participants said they would consider making charitable gifts on behalf of

As federal and state officials faced criticism about response time in the days following Hurricane Katrina, donations streamed into nonprofits, and individuals fundraised for relief efforts in record amounts at an unprecedented pace.

Maj. George Hood, secretary of community relations and development for the Salvation Army, says that organization processed $28 million in 10 days over the Internet alone.

E-philanthropy is the new kid on the block with the bright new sneakers. But while numbers from the 2005 Kintera/Luth Nonprofit Trend Report show online giving going full-steam ahead, there are still key points to keep in mind when it comes to maximizing users’ Web experience. This was the topic addressed by Michael Schreiber, executive vice president for enterprise service at the United Way of America in his session at Fund Raising Day New York in June.

In April, the United States Fund for UNICEF relaunched its Web site, www.unicefusa.org, to accommodate the recent global rebranding of UNICEF, add user and donor functionality, and increase overall Web visibility.

Partnering with Internet-software and -services firm Kintera, the organization focused on three core elements: fundraising, advocacy and education. Among the many new features, the site now captures member data for a more personalized Web experience, deploys eNews and allows visitors to take immediate action on children’s issues.

In the formative years of online fundraising, nonprofit organizations assumed that if they built a Web site with bells and whistles, rich content and a device to accept donations, donors would come. But to the chagrin of many fundraising pros who defined effective online fundraising as the ability to take credit card transactions through a Web interface, donors came in fits and starts. Charities soon learned that they needed to be just as creative, diligent and engaging in their approach to the Internet as to any offline fundraising medium.

By HARRY GRUBER The philanthropic playing field has become increasingly competitive, and many nonprofits struggle to earn their fair share of charitable giving. Instead of just soliciting donors, today's savvy organizations partner with them to generate gifts and, ideally, lifelong giving. Smoothing the playing field requires an ongoing affinity between the donor and the cause. This type of experience escalates an individual from basic involvement to having a strong emotional connection that results in taking action to provide financial or volunteer support. The Internet increasingly has become a powerful tool to harness that connection and empower your organization, allowing it to provide instant