Why Does my Charity Need a Web Site?
You have to have a web site if your organization is serious. The amount of exposure and donations that can be gained from an internet presence is staggering compared to the small amount of effort necessary. Here are some statistics and articles that support the need for charities to get on the information superhighway.
Guide Star - How Your Nonprofit Can Use the Internet Strategically
"Almost all (97 percent) of the affluent women in the survey that are catalog shoppers have donated to a charity in the past year, and the Internet is the most utilized source for gathering information on non-profit organizations, followed by calling an 800 number and direct mail." - CyberAtlas
"iGive.com is a similar organization, whose 40,000 members have raised about USD $270,000 for over 4,000 charities, according to CEO Rob Grosshandler." - Nua Internet Surveys
"...socially engaged Internet users are almost evenly divided between liberals (43 percent) and conservatives (44 percent), while snail-mail donors are overwhelmingly liberal (74 percent)." - American Demographics
"'Fund raising on the Internet is not about new technology or secure transactions,' [Michael Gilbert] said. 'It's about the fact that it's an incredibly cheap medium for having rich, one-on-one relationships with supporters.'
Currently, many charities have to sell their mailing lists to raise the postage to send their mailings to potential donors. Postage is so expensive that every mailing must be an appeal for money. But on the Internet, e-mail can be exchanged, newsletters can be posted, and donors can be made to feel more a part of the organization -- which in turn may well inspire them to give more." - American City Business Journals