I recently came across two articles that caught my attention, both having to do with utilizing the internet for fund raising. We all have questions like, "How effective is that online donation button we have on our website?" "Are the elderly, often the target population of a giving program, comfortable with going online to make their charitable gifts?" "What are some innovative approaches to raising money online?"
Well, let's first look at recent giving patterns, as reported in an article from the Lakeland Ledger in Florida (http://www.theledger.com/article/20080901/NEWS/809010367). While online giving makes up a small fraction of total charitable giving (less than 2%), it is growing at a rapid pace, from $250 million in 2000 to an estimated $6.9 billion in 2006. Some organizations, such as Campus Crusade for Christ, have had great success with online giving. Internet donations tripled from 2006-2007 to $33 million and now represent 7.5% of their total contributions. From a strategic point of view, online giving programs may be used effectively to reach out to younger generations who tend to be the most savvy with new technology. However, what I found to be the most interesting fact was that the average online contributor to Campus Crusade is 50 years old! Obviously, the older generation is getting more comfortable with using the internet to conduct business transactions, so we shouldn't hold back from developing and marketing our websites as a platform for giving.
Now then, what about innovations in online giving, beyond the "donate now" button on your organization's website? Well recently, a San Diego-based nonprofit conducted a "virtual" gala for the second year in a row (http://www.nptimes.com/08Sep/npt-080901-3.html), which yielded a higher return on investment than the "in person" annual gala, which traditionally had been their primary fund raising event. For the online gala, the organization hosted a gala website, complete with sponsor acknowledgments and a month-long auction. Table and seat sponsors were included in the event, similar to a traditional gala. Because of the greatly reduced expenses associated with the virtual gala, the organization netted about $150,000, compared to the traditional gala's net of $50-60,000.
So, would this online gala work for you? Well, the nonprofit featured in the article is large (annual budget of $95 million and approximately 1200 employees), well-established (founded in 1913) and had a tradition of hosting an annual in-person gala. Perhaps a strong base of existing donors would be necessary to pull this off. It will be interesting to see if others are able to replicate their success, but for now I'd like to ask you:
How effective is your organization's current online giving program? What other sorts of innovative approaches to fund raising have you tried and were they successful? Have any of you successfully utilized social networking to raise money?
To continue the conversation, please join us for our next Brown Bag Networking Lunch: Online Fundraising - the Data on What Works and Who's Giving, on Wednesday October 8 from 12-1:30 pm at the MCS offices. We will share our experiences as we review available research on what's working in online fundraising and who's giving. To register, go to: (http://www.managementconsultingservices.org/node/103)
