Lessons for fundraisers from a site that’s not about fundraising.

By Dan Gunderman

There are a few smaller lessons to be gleaned from Recovery.gov, as well. The model of individual state and government agency sites could be applied to the collaborative projects you lead or participate in as a way to encourage accountability from individual partners, while demonstrating the unity of working together. Donors love collaboration almost as much as the Washington, D.C., media love “bipartisanship.”

And getting people to interact with your site is almost always a good idea; story sharing is a great tool for doing so. You might even end up with a gem that really typifies your work. With permission from the storyteller, you might be able to translate the story into part of a fundraising campaign.

Your Web site is a tool for engaging people. The more it’s about them, the more involved and emotionally invested they will become. And an emotional investment from your audience is the first step toward getting its financial support. Or votes. Something this Obama fella seems to know a thing or two about. FS

Dan Gunderman is director of copywriting at Big Duck (bigducknyc.com). Reach him at dan@bigducknyc.com