Using E-Commerce to Raise Money and Build Stronger Relationshi

August 2005

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To foster development of constituent relationships, information about each online shopper's purchases should be added to a constituent's profile in an organization's online marketing database. As an organization collects constituent information through its online store, it will be poised to drive more involvement.

For example, a wildlife preservation group could use constituent profile information to send an e-mail to constituents that have an interest in wolves -- which might include people who have purchased "save the wolves" T-shirts -- encouraging them to donate to a "save the wolves" fund. The organization also could display special wolf-related messages to those constituents when they are logged in to the organization's Web site.

Vinay Bhagat is founder and chief strategy officer of Convio. For more information, log on to www.convio.com