Earlier this month, Network for Good, an organization that has facilitated $437 million in online giving to over 60,000 U.S. nonprofits, released the results of a comprehensive study about online giving. One of the conclusions of the study is that people who give online are no different from other donors, in that they expect a relationship, not merely an electronic transaction, with the organization they support. The study confirmed that the level of connection to an organization that a donor experiences online is directly tied to the donor’s likelihood of giving more and more often. As a result, the Network for Good suggests that even small nonprofit organizations with limited resources, like those in Sonoma Valley, should make meaningful connections with their donors online.
The use of online giving by donors to Sonoma Valley nonprofits spans a wide range. According to Lance Walker, development and marketing manager of the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art, said, “We have been experimenting a bit, but have not made a full leap to online giving. We offer people the convenience of paying membership, donating, and registering for events online. The use of all of these is growing. New memberships and renewals are the most used online payment feature. At this point, we hardly receive any donations via online giving. That may be a function of the design of the web site. It also may be that we tend to have donors with whom we have a deep relationship and who like to write one substantial check a year as opposed to the model of getting a small amount from hundreds of casually connected people. Still, I think that as we increase our community engagement over the coming years, we may see an expansion of people donating $25 or $50 or more online because a particular event, exhibition, or experience at the museum moved them to give.”
Laura Zimmerman, executive director of the Sonoma Valley Education Foundation, commented, “Fewer than 25 percent of our donations are currently made online.” She added, “We find that supporters and donors are definitely visiting our website to find out more and get the latest news about the work we are doing in the public schools of Sonoma. It is an ideal way to get a feel for an organization like ours. However, when it comes to making the donation, many people are still more comfortable sending in a donor form with a check or credit card information.”
A foundation that recently expanded to Sonoma, the I AM Foundation, receives 50 percent of its donations from online giving, according to its founder and CEO Steve Viglione. He added, “Online giving is now an essential element of nonprofit fundraising. We have found that a large variety of donors come with a large variety of needs. Some like to do checks or online banking checks, some like to do PayPal, some prefer to give a credit card over the phone and some prefer to go online to make their donation. It all comes down to needs and personal preferences. It is my opinion that nonprofits need to offer multiple ways for donors to make donations for convenience purposes.”
The Boys & Girls Clubs of Sonoma Valley was fortunate to be selected by Boys & Girls Clubs of America last year as one of ten clubs in the country to test a pilot E-Giving campaign. Executive Director Dave Pier stated, “Through this effort we’ve had some success with direct giving and it has helped increase our profile. Our goal is to have a direct line of communication to a broader community audience about the opportunity to invest and to create ease of giving to the Club.”
The Boys & Girls Clubs of Sonoma Valley features an online option to make a monthly donation. The online giving study discovered that ten percent of all online donations are recurring, and that monthly was the most common option. As a result, the Network for Good recommends that nonprofits should always offer a recurring gift option and should present a compelling reason to give monthly. The study also recommends for nonprofits to keep their websites up-to-date, uncluttered, and uncomplicated.
Timely information presented in the study reveals that roughly one-third of all online giving happens in the month of December. More specifically, 22 percent of all online giving occurs on the last two days of December, with the greatest number of donations occurring between the hours of 11 am and 6 pm in each time zone. So this month, nonprofit leaders would be wise to insure that their online giving feature is prominently displayed on their homepage, create a countdown campaign to let donors know that can give until midnight on December 31 to get 2010 tax year benefits, and send emails to their donors and prospects early in the morning of December 31 to be sure that they are read first thing in the morning.
Raising funds online is not about technology. It’s about having another avenue for nonprofits to build relationships and donor loyalty. By investing in thoughtfully designed online giving options, Sonoma Valley nonprofits will be able to connect with their supporters in new, meaningful ways.
Dr. B.J. Bischoff is the owner of Bischoff Performance Improvement Consulting, a Sonoma firm specializing in building the capacity of nonprofit organizations and government agencies to better serve their stakeholders. She is a member of the Impact100 Sonoma Board of Directors and can be contacted at bjbischoff@bjbischoff.com.
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