Paul G. Ventura
President
Civil Society Advocates

Presentation to the 1997 New England Nonprofit Exposition
Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts
July 29, 1997

"THE INTERNET IS A FUNDRAISER'S DREAM"

Listening to the hype about the Internet, one gets the impression that it's at once a faucet for unlimited information flow, a parent's nightmare, and a powerful tool for teaching, learning, and communicating. The reality is that the Internet is another in a long line of technologies, like television, radio, and CD-ROMs, to move information and ideas from one place to another. That it does so with such remarkable speed and reach has made it an immediately attractive medium for those who seek to extract money from others.

The Internet itself is relatively new, since the mid-1960s, and the World-wide Web has only been accessible in its present form for about four years. So it all has the look and feel of a frontier town, with its snake oil salesmen, seedy dives, one-room schoolhouses, and an occasional house of worship.

Among the nonprofit fundraising community a vibrant dialogue is taking place, weighing the merits of the Internet as a way to build relationships with donors, alongside traditional means such as direct mail appeals or special events.

Ask yourself:

Would I like to have a convenient, up-to-date source of potential grant opportunities for my organization?

Would I like to increase our membership?

Would I like to identify potential new donors or increase the giving of existing ones?

Would I like tips on fundraising strategies and tactics that work? Or those that don't?

Would I like to improve my skills in grantwriting, running a special event, or soliciting individual donors?

Would I like to be able to ask questions to a large number of colleagues and get solid, timely answers?

If your answer to any or all of these questions is "yes," then you'll be pleased to know that the Internet and the world-wide web have some of the treasures you seek. There are web sites that have successfully generated revenue from new memberships, online contributions and the sale of items. There are mailing lists and newsgroups discussing the latest topics in the field of fundraising. There are online journals reporting recent developments in taxation on charitable contributions and other regulations. Some online forums serve as year-long professional conferences --without the wine & cheese receptions, unfortunately. So, for many fundraisers, the Internet is a dream come true.

But to describe the Internet as a dream acknowledges that it is not precisely the same as reality. Not all the information you might want is available online. Even if it is, it may be so difficult to find that it soon proves unworthy of the effort. Besides, not all potential benefactors are online, nor use the Internet regularly, and then perhaps only for e-mail. Certainly it's a rare web surfer who ventures into the cyberwaves specifically to give away money or time.

Nonetheless, during its short life the Internet is proving to be one of many indispensable tools in the web-wise fundraiser's portfolio. According to the latest GIVING USA report, over $150 billion was earned by U.S. nonprofits in 1996, the majority of it (about 80%) from individual contributors. If the Internet could help you obtain an appropriate share of those funds, wouldn't you want to use it?

This paper reviews three general ways in which the Internet and world-wide web can support the fundraising efforts of nonprofit organizations like yours. These ways reflect activities with which most fundraisers are already familiar: identifying and responding to grant opportunities, generating and sustaining members and/or donors, and building one's own skills and peer networks.

First, the Internet can help in finding potential grants. No, don't throw away your subscription to all of those publications you receive. What the Internet offers does not yet replace the Foundation Center's and others' directories. But it will help you locate some potential funders and does provide some more up-to-date information than even the most current written publication can.

Secondly, the Internet can help in identifying new members and donors, as well as maintain and support existing ones. This paper will review what some nonprofits, both large and small, are doing in this area.

Third, and perhaps most successfully, the Internet already serves as an excellent vehicle for professional development and networking. A number of web sites now offer solid information and tips on fundraising methods, and newsgroups and mailing lists (also known as listservs) offer forums for fundraisers to share questions and ideas.

The remainder of this paper will review each of these categories in turn. But before reviewing how it's being used, some review of who is using the Internet might be helpful. Many nonprofits have been hesitant to adopt Internet-inclusive strategies because of their perceptions of who Internet users are. Another reason might be affordability, but web-wise fundraisers will know how to deal with that one.

WHO IS THE INTERNET COMMUNITY?

Many nonprofit leaders are skeptical about the Internet user. For many of us, the stereotype of the netizen is either a "nerdy techno-dweeb" or a preadolescent whiz kid. It can be hard to conjure up an image of our board members, volunteers, and donors as avid web surfers. And while the early adopter of telecommunications technology was probably a peculiar breed, today's Internet user is likely to resemble the general population.

CyberAtlas, www.cyberatlas.com, a web site which collects and disseminates data on Internet usage, provides some illuminating data (figures through May of 1997):

Over 35 million people in the U.S., and another 10-20 million worldwide, are estimated to have regular Internet access. Another 5-10 million have used the the Internet at least once during the past year. Those numbers are expected to grow by 80-90% over the next year.

Almost half (between 41-45%) of all U.S. Internet users are women.

Almost half of U.S. Internet users (45%) are over the age of 40.
The average age found in one poll (by Georgia Tech) is about 35 years.

Game-playing accounts for only 14% of web activity reported in a Business Week survey. The primary forms of Internet activity were found to be research (50% of online time) and education (37%), with entertainment at 31% and news at 30% of the time spent online.

Over half of all Internet users have at least some college or are college graduates.
18% have advanced degrees.

Internet users, not surprisingly, tend to be more affluent than the general population--only 18% make less than $25,000 a year.

Of the 30-40 million U.S. users, just under half use it daily. Of these, three out of four reported that they are dependent on the net.

In an article in Philanthropy Journal Online, philanthropy-journal.org, Jeffrey Hallett, Chairman and co-founder of New Media Publishing, suggests that the Internet could be a way to reach potential donors resistant to direct mail or phone appeals -- those under the age of 35. Hallett describes this group as "influencers:"

"Not only are they the first on the Web, they are highly educated and generally leaders. Using the Web to engage them with our issue or cause can do more than trigger a donation. It can also help spread the word of our efforts as these influential people interact with others in their families, communities, and elsewhere."

HOW IS THE INTERNET BEING USED TO FIND GRANTMAKING OPPORTUNITIES?

Anyone who has spent time writing grants knows that one of the more tiresome aspects of the job is finding the right funder and learning about its procedures and guidelines. Countless hours are spent poring through large red books or CD-ROM databases. The Internet does make some of this information available, either through online directories or with direct links to funding organizations.

Among the better known web sites is that of the Foundation Center, fdncenter.org. The Center's web site has links to individual grantmaking institutions, as well as news. One useful feature is that of the common application form used by several grantmakers in a particular area. For example, the common application form for a number of New York & New Jersey-based grantmakers is available online. In addition, one can search for and read articles from the Center's publication, Philanthropy News Digest..

Other sources for links to grantmakers and their guidelines, and sometimes online application forms, can be found at these web sites:

GrantScape
www. grantscape.com
Maintained by Capitol Publications, this site is updated daily and profiles a "Funder of the Day;" Lucent Technologies was spotlighted when I last visited. Registration is required to access the site, but it's free.

AGM Connect , the new site of the Associated Grantmakers of Massachusetts, at www.agmconnect.org

Foundations Online (the site of the Northern California Community Foundation) www. foundations.org

Grants & Other Fundraising Opportunities (an individual site maintained by Bill Earles) www.aone.com/~mrbill/grants.html

Many foundations have created their own web pages to highlight their programs and to provide information for potential grantees. Many of these can be found by searching the directories above, either by foundation name, geographic area of support, or funding categories.

A no-frills example of a foundation's web site is that of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, www.rbf.org/rbf . On the site, one can find funding guidelines and a recent grant history, but as yet there is no provision for an online grant application.

Flashier models can be found at the web sites of the Pew Charitable Trusts, www.pewtrusts.com, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, www.rwjf.org, which does offer a low-bandwidth, text-only version. Both sites feature several of the projects and programs these donors fund in the areas of education and public health.

The U.S. government maintains a web site called FedWorld, www.fedworld.gov, which links all government agencies. The site is particularly useful, as some agencies like the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services provide information about upcoming grants. Some Requests for Proposals can be found through FedWorld by using a software application called "telnet." This application allows direct but limited access to the government's own computer databases, including grants available. The service is free but does require registration, which can be done online.

Another source of information on individual funders is the Support Centers of America, whose web site, www.igc.org/sca, features monthly interviews with grantmakers, including those from little-known family foundations.

Don't expect to find that every foundation with a web site shares its grantmaking procedures online. The Windham Foundation of Vermont, for instance, has a web site which describes its activities, but does not provide any information on its grant making. According to Foundation staffer Gail Woods,

"The Windham Foundation, along with its two subsidiaries, established its web site in January 1997. We get somewhere between two to three thousand hits per month. The Foundation's purpose for having a web site was to promote Grafton as a great place to visit and also to give exposure for The Old Tavern and The Grafton Village Cheese Company, our two subsidiaries. We do not emphasize our grants program because only Vermont non-profit organizations qualify and were afraid we would be spending too much time responding to people who do not."

HOW IS THE INTERNET BEING USED TO CULTIVATE MEMBERS & DONORS?

Over the last year, hundreds of nonprofit organizations created their first web site. Some are modest and were created in-house with some bare bones HTML (hypertext markup language, the language of the web). Others are elaborate affairs, requiring substantial investment of time and money not only to create but to maintain.

A fine example of a web site designed not only to inform, but to allow the user to have fun is that of the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC), www.outdoors.org. The site is new, only established in June of this year, but already receives several hundred visits a week. "We don't really know yet how many visitors we have, as the site is so new," says Gordon Hardy, AMC web director. He referred to the factor of seasonality with respect to online visits. When the weather is nice, Hardy suggests, fewer AMC-types are likely to be online; they're out hiking the trails. But when the weather is inclement, people are more likely to browse the web. If Hardy is correct in his speculations, then it will be at least a year for a pattern of site usage to emerge.

According to Hardy, the purpose of the AMC site is to build an online community among AMC members. It tries to do this by providing timely information, including something called "Hut Flash," which allows site visitors to see what trail huts are available for a given date and location. Another feature is AMC's "Campfire," an online "bulletin-board," where site visitors can post messages and read those left by others. Although these features are currently available to non-members, future ones may be geared to members only. AMC provides a means for new members to join online, and although exact figures weren't available from Hardy, he does say that the site has generated "more memberships than we expected." Because the bulk of AMC operating revenue comes from memberships, an online presence is critical to its overall fundraising strategy. "More than half of our [current] membership is online," says Hardy.

ASK YOURSELF: Do I know how many of our members or donors have Internet access? Do I know how many of them use it regularly?

One organization that has taken advantage of the symbiosis between its mission and the online community is the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). The ACLU web site, www.aclu.org, was among the first for a national nonprofit and happened to go online at the same time as the national debate on the Decency in Communications Act proposed in Congress. The Act passed, but has more recently lost some muscle, in no small way attributed to the outcry by the Internet community. It is no surprise that this community of users would be advocates of free speech, the fundamental tenet of the ACLU. Nor is it a surprise that its web site might be an appropriate means to enhance its fundraising among individual contributors. According to information in the book, Fundraising on the Internet, Nick Allen of the fundraising consulting firm, Mal Warwick & Associates, indicates that the ACLU's web site raised around $18,000 in February of 1996, its first month online. For the nearly 600 online credit-card donors, the average gift was $31. By April of 1996, ACLU had raised about $25,000 online.

A recent ACLU campaign for a $25 million endowment, the "Trust for the Bill of Rights," was launched on the web. However, it did not ask for pledges online. Rather, its web site requested that interested parties submit a basic inquiry form, after which someone from the ACLU would contact the person(s) directly. The ACLU realizes that large gifts are not impulsive and still require a personal touch. Nonetheless, the ACLU's web presence may help them identify potential donors not currently known to them.

A web site that is almost legendary in the success of its online appeals is that of the American Red Cross (ARC), www.redcross.org. The nature of the ARC makes it an ideal candidate for a web presence -- a nation-wide constituency and a need for a quick response to disasters. The ARC web site is designed with these functions in mind: to provide the most up-date-information on catastrophes and to recruit volunteers and donors. Less than a year ago, the ARC web site did not offer an option of contributing online with a credit card. With improvements in electronic security, the ARC began to solicit online donations earlier this year. And if its track record is any indication, it should be successful. Before it began online collections, it found that 30% of donors calling its toll-free number say they found the number on the ARC web site; the vast majority also used their credit card for an immediate donation in lieu of a pledge for a later contribution (see Allen et al., eds., Fundraising on the Internet, 1996). I know that immediately after the bombing in Oklahoma City, when I wanted to learn what sort of help was most critically needed, I went to the ARC web site to find out.

It is said that individual contributors to nonprofits sometimes want something in return for their gift. This may range from a small premium gift, to recognition, to a named endowment. Some organizations sell products to earn revenue for their programs in areas like conservation or human rights. The ACLU and the Sierra Club are two nonprofits which have employed the web in their sales strategy. Typical items for sale include t-shirts, caps, and books. Along with phone, fax and regular mail, the ACLU "cyberstore" has a secure online ordering option for credit cards. Information sent electronically is scrambled and the code can only, theoretically, be interpreted by the vendor's software. A similar system is in place at the Sierra Club's online store, at www.sierraclub.org.

Amnesty International was one of the first nonprofits to embrace computer technology for public education and advocacy; its CD-ROM has won several awards. Amnesty does have a small catalog of its publications on its web site, at www.amnesty.org, but requires calling a toll-free number to order. As online transactions become more secure, and public confidence builds, shopping in cyberspace will earn its share of the multi-billion dollar consumer market.

ASK YOURSELF: Does our organization have anything special it could offer online? Any products, services, or information? Would we want to restrict access to these things to only members or donors?

At the other end of the spectrum are web sites whose solicitation of funds is more subtle. Take the web site for Habitat for Humanity International, www.habitat.org. According to its webmaster, Scot Ninnemann, Habitat's site underwent a significant makeover in March 1997 (the original site was established in May of 1996). "Since the redesign," says Ninnemann, "we've been getting around 300,000 hits a month." A "hit" is recorded each time a web visitor browses a particular page, so the actual number of different visitors is less--Ninneman estimates those to be closer to 14,000 per month. The Habitat site is not aimed at direct donor solicitation, but rather at getting people into the organization, starting as a local volunteer. Says Ninneman:

"We're mostly encouraging our visitors to get involved by contacting their local affiliates directly...We've received a few inquiries from people about the process of starting Habitat affiliates since there isn't yet one in their area, that's been really encouraging...So far, we've been viewing [the web site] primarily as an awareness-raising tool. The main goal is to provide up-to-date, accurate information about what Habitat is and how someone could get involved...Rather than do much of a 'hard ask' on the site, we're hoping that our information will get visitors excited about Habitat and encourage involvement/raise funds indirectly in that way."

In the words of Scot Ninnemann,

"We do intend to expand the donor area somewhat, but haven't yet decided how...We're trying to achieve a balance where donation information is readily accessible if someone wants to find it, but we also want people to be able to browse through the site without feeling like we're bugging them for money."

ASK YOURSELF: If our organization already has a web site, or even just an e-mail address, does it appear on all of our print materials--newsletters, letterhead, business cards, and the like?

Like Habitat for Humanity, the Vermont Land Trust (VLT) takes a long view of donor cultivation, preferring to use its web site, www.vlt.org, to provide information and build a relationship of trust and credibility, without especially overt solicitation. One way in which it does this is to describe, in some detail, the various ways in which someone could support VLT, including cash contributions, charitable remainder trusts and giving of property. One particularly informative feature is the explanation of the tax implications of giving real estate. The web page provides an illustration of how much an individual could deduct for land with an estimated value of $80,000. An enhanced feature would be an online interactive calculator, which would allow a site visitor to plug in his or her own figures and see the results online.

According to VLT's internal webmaster, Teija Huttenen-Green, the site is "in transition." It was created in the fall of 1996 largely for demonstration at a meeting of national land trusts held in Burlington, Vermont. Its initial construction was supported by a grant from the Vermont National Bank, but funds or personnel haven't been available to update or enhance the site or to track users.

Huttenen-Green says that VLT is considering using the web site to advertise donated properties that it makes available for sale or to establish a regular e-mail update for members. One audience which Huttenen-Green thinks would be especially useful to target is that of bankers and other professionals who work directly with donors considering establishing trusts or bequests of property; providing them with online information could encourage contributions to the Land Trust.

Some web sites have been devised specifically to assist potential donors in their decision-making. Among these is GuideStar, sponsored by not-for-profit Philanthropic Research, Inc. of Williamsburg, Virginia. The purpose of GuideStar, www.guidestar.org, as stated in a recent press release, is to make available "reports for all the nonprofit organizations to which contributions are tax-deductible." Its ambitious goal is to provide entries in its database for the 600,000 or so U.S. organizations classified as 501(c)(3) by the IRS. According to Claire Stephens, PRI's Director of Marketing, GuideStar expects to have the data compiled from the latest IRS 990 forms online by August of 1998. PRI's President, Arthur Schmidt, describes the rationale this way:

"Just as you wouldn't invest money in a company you don't know anything about, a donor shouldn't give money to an organization without understanding its objectives, values, and effectiveness. We want to help people become proactive in their philanthropy and seek out the nonprofits they believe in. As part of that effort, we want to make sure that donors find the information they need."