E-Philanthropy

Responding to our invitation in the February issue of FundRaising Success, Lacy Ward Jr., executive director of Court Appointed Special Advocates of Central Virginia, an organization that advocates for abused and neglected children in court, requested that her organization’s site be analyzed here.

Far from an expert on Web design and functionality, I enlisted the help of Domenic Spinosa, vice president of creative for Wakefield, Mass.-based relationship-marketing firm Epsilon.

If you’ve ever unjammed a printer and then found yourself designated the technology guru at your organization, the book “The Accidental Techie: Supporting, Managing, and Maximizing Your Nonprofit’s Technology” is for you.

Relationships with your constituents are built on respect, trust and communication — qualities realized when you demonstrate that your organization is worthy of supporters’ time, energy and money. As nonprofits embrace the Internet’s power, e-mail is emerging as an increasingly important communication tool. Nonprofits that learn the communication preferences of their donors and prospects will have the advantage when competing with similar organizations for donations.

There’s widespread agreement among direct-marketing professionals that the industry will continue to change dramatically over the next few years. Now, new research from Forrester Research Inc., an independent research firm, confirms it: Direct marketing is being transformed before our eyes.

The Forrester Trends report, titled “Five Predictions for the Future of Direct Marketing,” focuses on commercial direct marketers, but the findings easily can be applied to fundraising. Here’s an overview of the significant Forrester findings.

If there were to be crowned a Richard Simmons of nonprofit fundraising in the United States, ASPCA Senior Vice President of Development and Communications Jo Sullivan just might fill those sequined short-shorts.

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.

When you’re raising money in a “small shop,” as public broadcasting operations often are, you’ve got to know how to make the most efficient and economical use of your precious resources.

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

For the most part, fundraisers no longer believe online marketing is competitive with offline marketing. Most understand that you need to incorporate both into your marketing strategy and that they should be coordinated in order to realize synergies. Many fundraisers, however, struggle with determining how much to focus on and invest in online marketing, and how to drive coordination between online and offline channels.

For years, Washington, D.C.-based The Humane Society of the United States ignored the Internet’s full potential to reach donors and supporters.

Here’s the situation we found ourselves in: HSUS’ Web site in April 2003 had been transferred to its third department in five years. While the site was graphically appealing and content rich, it ran on proprietary software developed by a company that no longer was in business.