January, 2002 - Issue 9

State of ePhilanthropy 2002:
By the Numbers

By Vinay Bhagat
Founder & CEO, Convio, Inc.

The Internet has remained a large question mark in the minds of many nonprofit fundraisers who have wondered whether online fundraising could compete with traditional forms of phone- and paper-based solicitation. Before September 11, the most raised online by any charity in a single year was the $2.7 million raised by the American Red Cross in 1999, which included donations for the relief efforts in Kosovo. Skeptics of online fundraising have claimed that the Internet was light-years away from impacting traditional forms of direct mail giving and charitable contributions -- that is, until the tragic events of September 11, 2001. In the wake of the Internet boom-and-bust, few believed that the Internet could indeed be an important tool for delivering results to the nonprofit sector. However, in the weeks following the September attacks, an estimated 15-25 percent of total funds raised came in online, accounting for an estimated record $150-250 million of the $1 billion raised in four weeks. Surveys conducted after September 11 showed a marked change in online behavior for many Americans who had never donated online, and clearly demonstrated that the online giving behavior of many Americans after September 11 was both a concentrated and dramatic example of how Internet technology can have a lasting and valuable impact on the nonprofit sector.

Easier To Give Online
According to a post-September 11 study conducted by Digital Marketing Services, initial survey results revealed that 51 percent of people felt it was easier and more effective to donate online than through traditional means. In addition, the study found that nearly half of the respondents were more likely in the future to donate, seek volunteer opportunities and engage in advocacy using the Internet rather than through the traditional means of direct mail because of the experience they had online following September 11.

Internet Proved To Be A Valuable Tool in 2001
While statistics about dollars raised online post-September 11 continue to vary, what the numbers undoubtedly indicate is that 2001 was the watershed year that the Internet proved itself as an immediate vehicle for nonprofit organizations to raise significant funds online and it also encouraged many new online donors to immediately contribute.