Are Organizations Raising Money Online?
Millions of dollars have been raised for Haiti via text messages. Are grassroots groups get some of that? Andy Robinson examines the costs, benefits, opportunities, and challenges of embracing online fundraising.
Our guest blogger, Andy Robinson is a veteran trainer and consultant. He wrote "Reality Check: How Grassroots Environmental Organizations Are (or Are Not) Raising Money Online" for the Institute for Conservation Leadership. The report is free. Also check out Andy's workshop at this year's CSTI.
I have the good fortune of serving on the editorial board of the Grassroots Fundraising Journal. At the age of 53, I am perhaps the oldest member of the group – I’m surrounded by fundraisers and consultants in their 20s and 30s, all of whom are sharp, articulate, and wise.
At our November meeting, one person mentioned that he had just written personal notes on 300 year-end appeal letters. Everyone groaned in empathy: 150 personal notes here, 200 there, around the circle we went discussing our ink-stained fingers.
Halfway through, I started laughing. In this tech-savvy group of emerging leaders, I wondered, why is everyone so devoted to a fundraising technique that’s even older than I am?
“Given all the online fundraising and social networking opportunities available to us,” I asked, “is anyone spending less time and money on their mailings or events or outreach to major donors? Are you writing fewer grant proposals? Are you doing fewer donor visits? Do you know any organizations that have actually replaced the old traditional strategies with new ones?”
Silence. Nobody said a thing.
We learn about millions of dollars raised for Haiti via text messages. We study how Obama for America electronically engaged a new generation of voters and activists and convinced them to give. We hear rumors of viral fundraising campaigns started by teenagers that spread across Facebook and raise thousands for villages in Africa. We ask, “How do I get some of that?”
The Institute for Conservation Leadership, a long time client and collaborator, asked me to study this question. The resulting report. Reality Check: How Grassroots Environmental Organizations Are (or Are Not) Raising Money Online, is less about the nuts-and-bolts and more about the costs, benefits, opportunities, and challenges of embracing online fundraising. What are peer organizations doing? What’s working and what isn’t?
The best news is that emerging technologies create great opportunities to engage donors, which can result in deeper commitment, a new pool of volunteers, greater board involvement, and more generous offline giving.
The sweet spot is the place where old techniques and new technologies come together.
