Accountability

About a month has gone by now since I started creating a website and a blog for myself. I wonder if anyone out in cyberspace has seen my blog.

Ok so here is a comment on the actual topic of the blog. Here are some random thoughts about online fundraising and marketing. Online fundraising is more than online fundraising.

Simply having a secure form on your site to accept donations isn’t enough. You still have to engage in all the fundraising basics. Cultivate the relationship. Make the ask. Thank the donor. Tell them how you used their funds. Cultivate some more etc… etc… I saw an excellent presentation by the President of Guidestar at a recent conference. He explained that many donors and prospective donors are going to nonprofit websites to see how the organization uses the funds that are donated. If you surf through non-profit websites you won’t find a lot of accountability.

After all the accountability issues surfaced about the Red Cross after 9-11, organizations need to pay more attention to accountability. Be sure to post a link to your annual report and to your most recent financial information. More thoughts on this topic will be included in my next edition of Web Tool Tips, the e-newsletter I publish for public broadcasting development. And, while it is geared to public broadcasting, it is useful to those at any nonprofit.