The Online-Donations Survey: How It Was Done

The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s sixth annual survey of online fund raising is based on data provided by 211 of the

biggest nonprofit organizations in the United States.

The Chronicle sought online-giving data from the 400 charities that were included in the 2004 edition of the newspaper’s Philanthropy 400, which ranks the American nonprofit groups that raise the most money from private sources.

Of the 211 organizations that responded to the survey, 183 reported that they did some kind of online fund raising during the 2004 fiscal year. Nine of those groups were unable to provide a dollar amount.

Twenty-eight organizations said that they do not raise funds online. Seven of those organizations said they did not do online fund raising in 2004, but plan to offer donors that option in the 2005 fiscal year. Six organizations plan to start collecting online donations in the 2006 fiscal year, and another five are discussing whether to raise money online.

Eight groups said that they have no plans to start collecting funds online, while two organizations, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, in Texas, and Senior Gleaners, in Sacramento, stopped collecting online donations in 2004.

Tammy Largent, grants director at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, said that the institution canceled its 2004 fund-raising race, for which donations had previously been taken online, and has not resumed online fund raising since. Kay Grayson, second vice president and director of fund raising for Senior Gleaners, said online fund raising had proved not to be a cost-effective option for her organization. In 2003, the group raised $715 online, she said, but spent $874 to collect that amount.

Comparing Figures

Readers of the survey should take care when comparing organizations’ online fund raising from year to year.

Some figures reported for online donations may not represent a full 12 months of operation, because some groups began accepting online gifts in the middle of the fiscal year.

Some organizations provided online-giving data for their headquarters, but not for affiliates.

Two charities had percentage increases of more than 1,000 percent. However, one of those organizations, Baylor College of Medicine, in Houston, said that its online fund-raising program has only been operating for two years, so the totals for 2003 were very small. The other organization, Auburn University, in Alabama, has raised money online for four years. The university attributes its increase to its decision to make giving possible on the Web page of the institution’s athletics department.

The survey was conducted by Leah Kerkman and Cassie J. Moore, with assistance from Sharnell Bryan and Maria Di Mento.