Tag Archives: Ted Hart

Online Fundraising over $10 Billion in 2007

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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.

Integrated Fundraising – No Longer Optional

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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.

Taking ePhilanthropy to the Next Level

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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.

Strategies for Successful ePhilanthropy

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Attended ephilanthropy.org’s eTour this morning which focused on how to use online strategies for fundraising, advocacy and engaging constituents.  Outgoing director Ted Hart offered a summary of ‘ephilanthropy 101,’ followed by Charles Riess (of RSM McGladsey, who hosted event), Blackbaud’s Steven MacLaughlin and Convio’s Bob Evans.

When it was suggested that nonprofits develop a specific online plan, I suggested that an online plan is useless unless it incorporates offline strategies.  However, this becomes difficult when offline and online responsibilities are handled by different departments that aren’t accustomed to working together.

When I retitled my blog, ‘Bridging Development and Technology’ earlier this year, I omitted an important part of the equation – Marketing & Communications.   For an organization to take full advantage of the ephilanthropy techniques described today, it’s important that Marketing/Communications partner with Development while using Technology tools. I am building a new web site at www.nonprofitbridge.com where I will further describe how this can be done.

Another worthwhile point: Every activity should drive traffic to your web site.  In addition to regularly updating content, it’s important for the web site to be a part of any organization initiative to attract and engage constituents.

Finally, it was suggested that organizations clearly list their objectives before selecting products and vendors.  I asked: so why do many nonprofits base their decisions strictly on ‘connections’ or on products they’ve used at other organizations?  After all, any vendor can fit the bill when you don’t know what your requirements are.

There are many ways to join the Web 2.0 world.  As was suggested by more than one speaker today, it’s better to start something and learn from your mistakes than to wait endlessly while you plan the ‘perfect’ solution.