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Traditional fundraising channels include personal solicitation, events, publications, telephone, stewardship letters and direct mail. These are some of the basic offline tools that most nonprofit organizations utilize. The Internet adds another entire set of channels including Web sites, e-mail, search engines, social networks, (RSS), weblogs, podcasts and more. The organizations that leverage both online and offline channels together will have the agility to communicate in more successful ways.
The first step to integrating your channels is to stop seeing the Internet as an alien technology and start seeing it as a more dynamic and cost-effective set of channels to use when interacting with constituents. Blend these new channels together with your traditional channels to improve your results.
The second step is to stop using fragmented systems that turn your constituents into irreconcilable carbon copies regardless of the channels they use. You need to have a holistic view of your constituents across channels, and it shouldn’t require a Herculean effort. Remember that integration is not about data — it is about leveraging information to take strategic actions. Organizations that treat individuals as individuals no matter the communication channel are best poised for success.
Measure your progress
There’s an old saying that not everything that can be counted counts and not everything that counts can be counted. This might be true, but it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t have measurable goals and a way to measure them. Every goal must have metrics, and it all begins with measuring where you stand today. Your first basis for comparison should always be against your own past performance. Start by measuring how you performed in the last capital campaign, the last annual appeal, the last e-mail message, etc.
At the same time, don’t get make the mistake of getting too caught up in statistical averages and benchmarks. Being below the average doesn’t tell you how to improve, being above the average doesn’t tell you how to stay there, and being near the average only encourages mediocrity. The organizations that understand that both qualitative and quantitative measures help guide decision making will be best able to confirm their success.
Steve MacLaughlin is the practice manager of Blackbaud Interactive, Blackbaud’s Internet strategy and solutions group. To read more about Steve’s thoughts on leveraging the Internet, read his chapter in the recently released book “People to People Fundraising: Social Networking and Web 2.0 for Charities.” For more information, contact Steve at steve.maclaughlin@blackbaud.com or visit interactive.blackbaud.com.
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