Seeking Donations on the Internet: a Sampling of Resources

Following are resources for charities that want advice on the best ways to seek donations via the Internet.

These items were drawn from the 2000 edition of The Chronicle’s Non-Profit Handbook.

BOOKS

The Fund Raiser’s Guide to the Internet
By Michael Johnston

Discusses how non-profit organizations can gauge the market for on-line fund raising, set up and promote a World-Wide Web site, use e-mail and a Web site to request donations, and deal with on-line security issues, such as making sure donors’ credit-card information will be kept confidential.

Includes a disk that provides links to more than 100 Web sites mentioned in the book, sample donation forms for use on a Web site, and a program to help charities download donors’ names, addresses, and other information.

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, 1 Wiley Drive, Somerset, N.J. 08875; (800) 225-5945; fax (800) 597-3299; http://www.wiley.com; 224 pages; $34.95; I.S.B.N. 0-471-25365-0.

Fundraising and Friend-Raising on the Web
By Adam Corson-Finnerty and Laura Blanchard

Offers advice on how to build and maintain a World-Wide Web site, shows charities how to use their Web sites to raise money and identify major donors, and profiles effective Web sites created by non-profit organizations. Also explains how to create a Web-enabled CD-ROM — one that contains copies of pages from Web sites that can be seen on a computer that doesn’t have Internet access.

Publisher: American Library Association, Book-Order Fulfillment, 155 North Wacker Drive, Chicago 60606-1719; (800) 545-2433; fax (312) 836-9958; http://www.ala.org; 152 pages; $52 for members, $59 for non-members, including postage and handling; I.S.B.N. 0-8389-0727-x.

The Wilder Nonprofit Field Guide to Fundraising on the Internet
By Gary M. Grobman, Gary B. Grant, and Steve Roller

Offers advice on how to conduct prospect research via the Internet, use e-mail to attract donors, and employ an organization’s Web site to solicit donations; summarizes more than 70 Web sites of interest to fund raisers.

Publisher: Amherst H. Wilder Foundation, P.O. Box 2029, Danbury, Conn. 06813-2029; (800) 274-6024; fax (203) 744-4270; books@wilder.org; http://www.wilder.org; 64 pages; $15 plus $4 postage and handling; I.S.B.N. 0-940069-18-0.

WORLD-WIDE WEB SITES

Online Fundraising Resources Center

Developed by Adam Corson-Finnerty and Laura Blanchard, fund raisers at the University of Pennsylvania Library, this Web site includes articles that discuss how to use e-mail and the Internet to raise money and build relationships with donors.

To get there: Go to http://www.fund-online.com.

Socially Engaged Internet Users: Prospects for Online Philanthropy and Activism

This survey asked 800 adults who spend time on the Internet and who donate their time or money to charities or public-interest groups about their attitudes toward on-line giving and advocacy.

The survey was commissioned by marketing and fund-raising consultants Craver, Mathews, Smith and Company, in Arlington, Va., and conducted by the Mellman Group, in Washington.

To get there: Go to http://www.craveronline.com.

UK Fundraising

Run by Howard Lake, a fund-raising consultant in Britain, this Web site includes information on how charities in Europe and North America use the Internet to seek donations, and provides links to articles on Internet fund raising and to examples of charities that use their World-Wide Web sites to raise money.

To get there: Go to http://www.fundraising.co.uk.

Using the Internet for Fundraising

This report by Eric Mercer discusses the advantages and disadvantages of using the Internet for fund raising, legal issues related to soliciting charitable contributions over the Internet, and mechanisms for accepting pledges and donations on line. It also describes techniques that charities can use to raise money on line, including corporate sponsorships, charity auctions, merchandise sales on their Web site, and e-mail solicitations.

To get there: Go to http://www.nonprofit-info.org/misc/981027em.html.

E-MAIL DISCUSSION LISTS

Cybergifts

Operated by American Philanthropy Review, a company in Rancho Santa Margarita, Cal., that sponsors e-mail discussion lists and sells non-profit publications, this e-mail forum discusses how charities are raising money on line. To subscribe: Go to http://charitychannel.com/Forums. Or send an e- mail message to Listserv@CharityChannel.com that states in the body of the message, “subscribe cybergifts Your Name”; leave the subject blank, and do not include e-mail addresses in the body of the message.

Online Fundraising

Created by the Gilbert Center, a Seattle organization that provides technology help to charities, this e-mail forum discusses how to use e-mail and the Internet to raise money. To subscribe: Send an e-mail message to autoshare@gilbert.org that states in the body of the message, “sub fundraising”; leave the subject blank, and do not include e-mail addresses in the body of the message.