Today’s hottest buzzword is “Web 2.0.” And despite the youthful demographic that MySpace, Facebook and YouTube attract, nonprofit marketers are jumping on the bandwagon to run fundraising and friendraising campaigns there, often to be disappointed when the ROI falls short of the hype. But while YouTube, MySpace and Facebook grab the headlines, fundraisers almost have completely overlooked another rapidly growing online community, where members skew older and more civic-minded: the humble, familiar, unglamorous, utilitarian listserv. According to the Pew Internet and American Life project, the number of Internet users who subscribe to one or more listservs almost has doubled since 2001. The Washington
Eric Eckl
In 2006, online fundraising is like a precocious adolescent: It’s maturing, its promise is becoming clear, and it’s asserting its own unique personality within the family. Most importantly, it’s entering a growth spurt. According to the Pew Center for Internet and American Life, the number of Americans who reported that they had donated online to charity grew from 17 million to 26 million between January 2005 and September 2005.
