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| Path: Main Street : Resources & Library : Research Articles : Feature Article |
Online fundraising takes many formsby Doug Jamieson
July 22, 1995; CharityVillage NewsFundraising online, like online shopping, has been relatively slow off the mark, primarily due to the lack of universal encryption standards to protect credit card transactions via the World Wide Web. While there are plenty of nonprofits on the Web, and several with Gopher sites, most of the fundraising is limited to a static appeal for donations. That's about as ineffective, I'd guess, as a printed flyer stuck in a mailbox.
However, there are a few examples of more innovative thinking. You might want to check these out.
The British Library Adopt A Book Appeal has an intriguing approach to attracting funds to maintain their heavily used books and manuscripts. Unfortunately, the Gopher page is boring, and the whole thing is reminiscent of musty stacks during study week.
The American Red Cross does a nice job with a web page that solicits donations by mail, as does Easter Seal Society (Ontario).
For some real innovation, take a look at National Heart Support Association in the U.K., which uses a nice interactive form that allows you to join, and pay via credit card, all online.
The most interesting concept I've seen is definitely ReliefNet, where you'll find a great interactive form that enables you to make a donation pledge to any of 21 different, humanitarian charities. No credit card donations, though.
Look for this sort of thing to explode as soon as the credit card security problems are solved. That could come any day, as IBM, Netscape, some of the big banks, and plenty of software developers are all focused on finding solutions.
If you have encountered other good (or bad) examples of fundraising on the Internet, send them along, and we'll help everyone take a look.
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