March 28, 2007 | Read Time: 1 minute
Charities aren’t very good in following up with online donors, writes Albert Ruesga on his blog, White Courtesy Telephone.
He points to an experiment by a journalist Tom Gaffney, who went online and donated $15 to each of the 66 largest charities in the United States.
Only nine of those 66 charities followed up with Mr. Gaffney and tried to build a relationship with him.
Mr. Ruesga, vice president at the Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Foundation, in Washington, says charities are missing an opportunity to connect with online donors. And that will hurt these organizations over both the short and long term.
“It’s been well established that online donors tend to be more generous than their off-line counterparts,” Mr. Ruesga writes. “Given the cold cyber-shoulder we so often present them, is it any wonder they’re also less likely to continue contributing after their initial gift?”
Is is true that most charities fail to follow up with online donors? If so, why does that happen? Has your charity found an effective way to cultivate online donors? Tell us your thoughts by clicking on the comment link just below this posting.
