By Alan Kravitz
In this increasingly Internet-savvy world, more non-profits are finding effective, inexpensive ways to raise money online. That's certainly good news.
However, many of them are cutting back on more traditional approaches, like print campaigns and telemarketing. That's bad news.
Why? Because most donors still prefer to put their gifts in an envelope, or give their card number over the phone. In most cases, the Internet is much more effective for relationship-building than it is for fundraising. The recently-released 2010 eNonprofit Benchmarks Study proves this. According to the study, which monitored 2009 e-campaigns from a diverse group of non-profits, fundraising e-mails had the lowest open rate of any Internet correspondence. Advocacy e-mails and e-newsletters were more successful.
Will those results be the same 5 years from now? Probably not, as the Internet will only grow in influence. But right now, smart non-profits give their donors choices. True, it may cost more. But usually, it's money well spent.
How has the Internet affected your donor appeal strategy? Let's hear about it.
Alan Kravitz is a copywriter who specializes in writing customized direct mail appeals, e-appeals and telemarketing scripts for non-profit organizations throughout the United States. Contact him at 617-697-7397, or alank@infiniteinkwell.com.
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