13 posts tagged “ephilanthropy”

According to the Foundation Center's Philanthropy News Digest. "some of the nation’s largest charities...have seen only modest gains in online donations...because many of them have been slow to embrace or aggressively market their Web sites as a platform for giving."  So this may be more a result of a lack of marketing than to a slowdown in the growth of online fundraising.

In Fundraising Success, Steve Kehrli suggests that there's no such thing as a free donation, The costs of ephilanthropy usually include:

1. e-commerce platform integrated with your constituent database.
2. creative team that creates effective copy, images and video
3. production department that standardizes email content.
4. list of online prospects that eventually become donors
5. consultants and analysis that provide actionable recommendations.

Steve suggests that there are other costs, such as the correspondence team that responds to inquiries and training / developing staff that are also part of developing effective online strategies..

Pew / Internet released a report on cloud computing that estimates 69% of online users are now using hosted applications and/or storing data online, but many are concerned about how this information will be used by online vendors.

eJewishPhilanthropy's Brand Sharing 2.0 suggests that to make the most of Web 2.0 tools, nonprofit organizations give up some control over their organizational identities and "allowi their strongest supporters to use these organizational brands as an extension of their own personal online branding efforts," offering examples from the Salvation Army, National Geographic and the World Wildlife Fund.

Finally, marketing guru Seth Godin gave a stimulating talk this week as part of Network for Good's wonderful Nonprofit 911 series on how to become a 'purple nonprofit.'

Guidestar summarizes recent Giving USA online fundraising survey:

• while Internet giving is widely used, it still represents a small portion (under 5%) of overall fundraising
• most common way organizations raise money over the web is through an online donation page
• best results come from organizations that combine an online donation page with email appeals

Overall, social networking tools aren't contributing much - yet, but an organization that utilizes online 'communities' is likely to improve results.

Care2's FrogLoop blog interviews Phillip Artez, President of Artez on how to choose an eCRM.  Phillip says that successful nonprofit fundraisers "aren't afraid to share brand, content and promotion with their supporters" and reminds us that a large portion of funds will come from a small group of fundraisers so we should "treat them differently."  He mentions three areas where nonprofits should especially pay attention to: potential of social networking sites such as Facebook, donations originating from mobile devices and more organizations utilizing SalesForce (which has excellent connectivity to other systems and provides up to 10 free licenses to nonprofits).

Finally, the Nonprofit Times explains the importance of using multiple channels since many donors will visit the web before making a donation - even if it's offline and, surprisingly, even more so for constituents 65 and older.  Per Donordigital's Nick Allen, "more people are online, more people are doing research online, checking out charities they support or are thinking about supporting."   But NPAdvisor's expert Rick Christ warns that "nonprofit's Web site should try to support direct mail, but not replace it." and that direct mail is still how many first hear about a nonprofit.  Convio's Vinay Bhagat adds that while blogs and social networking are getting more attention, the core web site is still the main way constituents will evaluate a nonprofit.

Many contributors to the Nonprofit Times article, including Nten's Holly Ross stressed the importance of integrating the web site with email appeals.

Congratulations to the winners at the recent New York Times Company Nonprofit Excellence Awards: Community Health Action of Staten Island (overall management excellence), Harlem RBI (communications), Itefayo Cultural Arts (culturally based management strategies) and the Institute for Public Health (use of technology / focus on mission). Below on the overall areas of nonprofit excellence on which these organizations were judged:

1. overall management focus on results
2. governance structure that moves the organization forward
3. strong, transparent and accountable financial management
4. inclusive and diverse organizational practices
5. enlightened use of human and other resources
6. regular and effective communications
7. effective, ethical fundraising and development

Note to the Nonprofit Coordinating Committee of New York and New York Regional Association of Grantmakers who collaborated with the NY Times to recognize these exemplary nonprofits - for next year, how about an additional award to congratulate the nonprofit that has best been able to integrate offline and online strategies so that the true promise of 'multi-channel' communications and fundraising is realized?  This would be a gentle reminder to those nonprofits who haven't yet realized that constituents prefer to interact with our organizations in many different ways, only some of which are online.

Ted Hart provides a look at how online fundraising has grown from $0 in 1999 to $10.44 billion in 2007.  A graph and brief write-up is available at Slideshare.

The Chronicle of Philanthropy recently pointed out that while online giving still represents a small part of most nonprofits' fundraising, for some charities they have become a major source of revenue,  These five organizations have done especially well, raising at least 10% of their donations online: Heifer International (28%), Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (27%), Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund (21%), National Multiple Sclerosis Society (15%) and Make-A-Wish Foundation (10%).

Are you waiting for ephilanthropy tools to work perfectly before taking the plunge?  If so, read Vin Crosbie's take on Ted's People to People Fundraising site on why tools are 'good enough' to use now.

Probably the best book explaining the benefits of ephilanthropy I've seen to date is Ted Hart's People to People Fundraising.  Multiple experts from nonprofit organizations and vendors / consultants who service nonprofits offer detailed strategies on why nonprofits must begin to embrace integrated fundraising techniques.  Some memorable takeaways:

• Traditionally an organization's web site has been under the control of either IT or marketing.  Whereas their goals and objectives may be well intended, it is fair to say that their core focus is not development  oriented.  Development is often shut out from many of the Web conversations...Nonprofit organizations need to take a much more holistic focus of who controls and contributes to the overall online presence;  marketing, IT and development are just three of the contributors.
• Many organizations hae been quick to jump on the online bandwagon without creating an effective strategic plan.  For example, it's easy to ask people to visit your web site or leave an email address.  But without an effective plan for how you wil use email addresses and how your online activities will integrate with your offline activities, you may be creating more problems than solutions.
• To develop integrated campaigns, an organization may not need to restructure, but it will have to to rethink how the departments within the organization interact with each other.

Some of the book's contributors, many which I've heard speak at conferences and other industry events, include Blackbaud's Steven MacLaughlin, Convio's Sheeraz Haji, Network for Good's Katya Andresen as well as Ted Hart, who has long been an expert on this topic since founding the ePhilanthropy Foundation.  Many case studies from nonprofits that have successfully utilized integrated fundraising strategies are profiled, as well as many ways to take advantage of social networking sites.

If you still think that collaborative campaigns won't work in your organization, take a look at this book and find out why it's so important.

mStoner provides an interesting look at How Donors Use the Internet.  Interestingly, success of a nonprofit's web site can't only be judged by the level of online donations, since many visitors will check out an organization online but continue to give offline.

Nonprofit Times reviews a study which discusses the value of email addresses: Get an Email Address, Generate Income, as well as other trends in online giving.

Association of Fundraising Professionals discusses a survey that suggests that Integrated Fundraising Activities (are a) Key to Success and that using a variety of approaches is best, although reminds us that developing relationships and major gifts are still critical components.. 

Finally, the blog A Small Change suggests that fundraising no longer needs to be restricted by geography in Fundraising Without Borders.
  

The Association of Fundraising Professionals recently provided a stimulating appraisal on the state of Online Fundraising in 2008.  For nonprofits that still think this area isn't as important as the more traditional forms of fundraising, the article points out:

• While online monies are still under 4% of the $300 billion donated annually, the online portion has increased 50% over the last decade.
• More older constituents (those with the resources to give) are getting comfortable online
• Many like to combine offline and online giving - nonprofits will get better results by integrating both types of campaigns
• Social networking is worth looking at, but it's important to first focus on the basics: an effective website, getting potential and current consitutents to visit (and keep coming back to) your website and using email effectively.

To my surprise, slightly more than half of Americans were still on dial-up Internet access in 2007, so it's still important to build your web site so a high speed connection is not a must.

For those organizations that are still trying to figure out how to optimize online fundraising - start by realizing that it's no longer an option and it must be planned together with other development activities.  Give constituents many ways to help your organization (and tell them how their contributions make a difference in supporting your mission).

Tonight I attended the kick off event for a new ePhilanthropy book by Ted Hart, James Greenfield and Sheeraz Haji People to People Fundraising as well as an accompanying web site which describes itself as the next generation of ephilanthropy.  Through his previous role as founder of the ePhilanthropy Foundation, Ted has much to offer, especially to nonprofits that are still 'testing the waters.'  Tonight's event was sponsored by Craigslist Foundation, which clearly plans to become a major resource for nonprofits through an web site makeover planned in late spring 2008,

Some worthwhile tips from Ted:

• Donors often go to a nonprofit web site first to evaluate charity, even if they eventually decide to donate offline
• Social networking is worth doing, but not until a nonprofit has first done the basics: developed a content rich web site and a strategic email marketing plan (after collecting consituents' email addresses wherever possible)
• Asking is the key to receiving;  Thanking is the key to receiving again.
• Inspiring your strongest supporters to encourage others to get involved with your organization is the essence of 'person to person fundraising'
• If your organization is a 501(c)3 and you don't yet offer online donation, you can easily do so through services such as JustGive or NYCharities, both which offer rock bottom credit card processing fees (3%)

Also came across this recent blog posting which highlights best practices for nonprofits using web 2.0 strategies.

In the recently released American Express Charitable Gift Survey, there are some surprising insights about online fundraising.

Through a two week sample of donors in September 2007, the survey analyzed how much people give to charity in single donations and the differences between online and offline donations.  Below are some of its major points (with my comments in italics):

• about 2/3 of Americans gave to charity in the past year, but only 6% gave online.  This is much lower than I would have expected, but surely this will continue to grow rapidly.
• convenience or speed is the top reason for giving online. This is why it's so important to make the online donation process as simple as possible, e.g. not having too many steps and not asking for too much information.
• most contributions are below $100, regardless of the method of donation. While many nonprofits focus on major gifts, it's clear that small donations play a critical role.
• on average, the online gift is about the same amount as offline gifts. This is the most surprising conclusion.  At most presentations I've heard on this topic, online gifts are always described as being higher than offline gifts.
• the most frequent response for not donating online was not having a computer or Internet access.  This will change as Internet connectivity becomes more universal.
• although people under 35 are more likely to make online gifts, the greatest share of Internet donors (50%) are between 35 and 54 years old.  This also is a surprise, but the survey explains that more people in this age range give to charity than any other age group.
• there is little difference between the percentage of men and women giving online, and little difference in the types of charities they support.  This suggests that segmenting constituents by gender may not be helpful in stimulating online giving.

Thanks to the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, the Innovative Research Group, American Express Merchant Services, and Ted Hart, founder of the ePhilanthropy Foundation and now head of the Hart Philanthropic Services Group for preparing this insightful report.

As I've worked on defining my brand this year, I've reviewed my accomplishments since joining the nonprofit sector in 2000.  The achievements I am most proud of have to do with helping organizations to effectively use the Internet to do fundraising and to engage constituents.  A good description of the term can be found at Network for Good and through resources available at the ePhilanthropy Foundation 

Having done considerable training in recent years, I've recently applied to become an ePMT, which will allow me to further help nonprofits develop and implement their online strategies.  ePhilanthropy involves bridging multiple areas which have traditionally run separately: technology, communications / marketing and development.  While the web site is important, but so are other forms of online communications. 

The book Nonprofit Internet Strategies describes ePhilanthropy as "an ongoing process of communicating, educating, cultivating and soliciting nonprofit supporters to build and enhance stronger relationships."  Many nonprofits have succeeded in this area by focusing on:

1. the relationship: integrate all messages to supporters
2. give supporters a reason to visit you online
3. interact with supporters;  don't just send messages
4. communicate using multiple methods (offline and online methods should be managed as an integrated strategy) .
   
5. access and improve performance
   

While technology is my core strength, I use many other skills to help nonprofits use the Internet effectively to achieve their mission.  Focusing on ePhilanthropy seems to describe it best.