Campaign Draws $1,000-Plus Online Gifts

Many nonprofit organizations have received online donations of $1,000 or more, but the Human Rights Campaign has devised a way to actively solicit them.

For the past three years, the Washington advocacy group, which focuses on gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender issues, has run a series of e-mail campaigns to recruit new members for its donor society of people who give $1,200 or more annually.

During the first year, the organization learned the importance of sticking with a campaign, even if the initial results are less than promising.

The group sent its first message to 8,910 people but brought in only two gifts. The second message garnered four donations, but the third and final message of the campaign spurred 20 contributions.

Altogether the three appeals brought in $41,288.

Promoting the campaign in two of the group’s e-mail newsletters led to seven more gifts, which together totaled $8,700.

To read a case study about the campaign: Go to http://www.mrss.com.