How Did Online Fund Raising Fare In 2008?

Online giving remained relatively strong in 2008, despite the creaky economy.

Full-text article by Caroline Preston available via The Chronicle of Philanthropy, 1.06.09.

Interest Blossoms in Point-Click Philanthropy

Several times a year, Heidi Hess and James Rucker of San Francisco go online, PayPal style, and redirect their wealth to their favorite charities.

They are tactical philanthropists - part of a growing group of socially conscious givers in the Bay Area whose generosity accounts for more than half the $1 billion in assets at the San Francisco Foundation.

Full-text article by Meredith May is available via the San Francisco Chronicle, 10.12.08.

Online Fundraising in a Troubled Economy

The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University reports that 74% of donations to charities in 2007 stem from individual gifts. No doubt online fundraisers will start to see some dips not usually associated with September and October, months where online giving is typically up from the August malaise. But, are online fundraisers affected and how will this affect year-end giving?

Full-text report is available via onPhilanthropy, 10.1.08.

Prospecting: Fund Raiser Predicts Worldwide Competition for

American charities will soon be competing with a world of
nonprofit organizations for online donations, an international
fund-raising expert told participants at a conference in
Washington last week, according to Prospecting, The Chronicle of Philanthropy's
fund-raising column.

Online Giving

The following link from the 6.12.08 Chronicle of Philanthropy provides access to a chart illustrating how much select groups of charities have raised in via the internet over the past five years. [Subscription required]

Perfecting Your Page: Can donation page optimization boost online giving?

Read a new 5/9/08 report from Donordigital on webpage optimization:

Overview

Online fundraising has become a growing source of income for many non-profits over the past 10 years. But while organizations typically spend lots of time spent developing clever, creative, and inspirational online content, they often overlook more mundane aspects of online appeals that can make a big difference in converting advocates, subscribers, and other supporters into donors. Specifically, while email and web page copy may persuade people to "click to donate now," less than half of those who click through to the donation page (and often just a few percent) typically complete the donation transaction. Marketers are increasingly turning their attention and resources to landing page optimization.

In partnership with Donordigital, Amnesty International USA embarked on a project aimed at improving donation landing page conversions before the important end-of-year fundraising season in order to increase total donations.

View the report.

Wealthy People Increasingly Give Online, Study Finds

The Chronicle of Philanthropy's Elizabeth Schwinn explores the findings of a study, conducted by Sea Change and Convio, that found that affluent people are increasingly likely to use the Internet to make their charitable donations.

Read more of this 3/24/08 Chronicle of Philanthropy article.