Books: ‘Internet Management for Nonprofits’
FS: How does the book deal with the changing face of fundraising?
TH: I think the changing face of fundraising is more utilization of Internet services, more integration between communities, and the need to use Internet tools and social media to expand the marketplace for nonprofits. That is a challenge all charities face.
FS: In the introduction, you quote Greek philosopher Heraclitus' saying, "There is nothing permanent except change." Does this book account for predictions of major changes in digital fundraising? (Will there be major changes in digital fundraising in the future?)
TH: It addresses the fact that while being online has seemed like a good idea, it has now become more of a central feature to the future success of nonprofits. It's now no longer an interesting add-on or a feature that is optional. For charities to succeed, they must be online and they must have a strong strategy online. That is dramatically different than what any charity has faced in the past.
FS: How do you see the future of fundraising evolving?
TH: I think that where today a website is necessary for success, in the future, a social-media and mobile strategy will be required. So the integration and the depth of digital services will only continue to grow. It doesn't start and end with a website.
The vast majority of charities right now today are still struggling to have a well-designed, user-friendly website. And that is really going to be a baseline — that charities must solve those issues. Because the marketplace will be moving on in the next several years.
While there's a lot of talk about Facebook right now, LinkedIn and Twitter and other social-media sites, those are not central features for charities today. But they will be in the future. And while there's a lot of talk — particularly [around] the Haiti earthquake — about how mobile fundraising is starting to grow, it is not a central feature for charities today. But it will be in the future. So we're just starting to see the early wave of these additional challenges. There's talk about them, there's interest in them, but charities do not have to have a solution right now, today. They will have to have that in the future.
