Virilion

For most businesses and organizations, a Web site started out as an online billboard or brochure. As technology has changed — and it has done so at breakneck speed the last several years — Web sites have become online locations where audiences expect to get real services and take actions important to them. “Modernizing” your Web presence — particularly if it involves multiple sites, complex e-commerce applications or extensive libraries of content — can be a long, costly (and sometimes painful) experience. Our questionnaire can help you make an informed decision. The key is to keep sight of your organization’s goals and your audience’s

It’s called Sue’s Muse, and it’s written by fundraising consultant Sue Woodward, senior vice president at Virilion. Sue’s goal is to share daily insights on fundraising, of course, with an emphasis on online. Check it out at www.suesmuse.com. We love the name, by the way!

WASHINGTON, DC – A majority of donors say it is important for nonprofit and charitable organizations to use social media to communicate with their supporters (52 percent). Higher-level donors show greater interest in being kept informed through social media than lower-level donors. Half of high-level donors (51 percent) say they are interested, compared with 43 percent of medium- and low-level donors. Supporters cite a variety of types of information that they would be most interested in being updated on by an organization’s blog, social-networking site or RSS feed. These include news and announcements (39 percent), success stories (36 percent), opportunities to volunteer

There’s a lot to be said about failure. Mainly that it stinks. No, seriously — failure helps you appreciate success a little more, right? And on a less existential level, it can teach you a lot about what not to do next time around. That’s no more apparent than in the world of direct-mail fundraising efforts. And from what we hear, it happens to the best of them. So to prove you’re not alone when one of your ideas isn’t as all-fire successful as you had hoped, here are a few failure stories from fundraising pros. Hear Ye, Hear Ye … Don’t Traumatize Your