Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Adapt or Perish


The way that we give is changing. Before the December 2004 Indian earthquake and subsequent tsunami, few nonprofits had a way to donate online. Hurricane Katrina in August 2005 prompted the remainder of major nonprofits to figure out a way to let people donate through their website. These catastrophic events showed us that people want to give online and will give online.

Barring a natural disaster, how do you get people to actually use the donation button? The answer may be found in an ailing fundraising technique – direct mail. The Chronicle of Philanthropy reported in January 2008 a ten percent decline in contributions for the first three quarters of 2006, with some nonprofit falling off as much as 12 percent in the first three quarters of 2007. People who grew up before and during World War II have typically been the more responsive to direct mail, but with fewer of these fine folks around direct mail responses have fallen off.

Carol Rhine, senior fund-raising analyst at Target, noted in the Chronicle’s study that younger direct mail recipients are more apt to read direct mail and donate online. Ms. Rhine’s observations may well be the answer to marrying direct mail and online donations. Direct mail that gives clear online donation instructions will have the benefit of capturing traditional direct mail donors and will steer technology savvy donors to your site to make online donations.

So if you’re a nonprofit, what the bottom line? If you don’t have an online strategy or if your strategy hasn’t been your focus, you have to make to it your focus. In academia, there is a phrase “Publish or Perish.” For our world, it would be “Adapt or Perish.”

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