Fundraisers haven't warmed up to Internet

Fundraisers haven't warmed up to Internet: "Fundraisers haven't warmed up to Internet

BY CHARLES STORCH
Chicago Tribune

(KRT) - Many stories were written this past election cycle about the power of the Internet as a fundraising tool. But a report released in December on the climate for philanthropy suggests fundraisers for non-profits are not yet wowed by the Web.
The finding is a small piece of a larger survey of 215 fundraisers and consultants by the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University. Participants reported low rates of success with e-mail and the Web as solicitation techniques compared with such standbys as seeking major donations, planned gifts (through wills, for example) or foundation grants, among others.
And the percentage of those finding some degree of success using e-mail and the Web fell to levels of a year ago_both below 20 percent_wiping out the improvement reported six months ago in another of this semiannual series of surveys.
The Web and e-mail also don't seem to be living up to expectations. Consider this from a somewhat smaller set of respondents: those who participated in both the latest survey and the one six months ago."