Education Sector Flunks Online Fundraising
The Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) recently did a study of online fundraising at more than 550 colleges, universities and independent schools.
What fundraisers at these institutions reported is appalling. There appears to be very little understanding in the sector of online fundraising, and very little measurement of the scant online fundraising that is occurring.
Steve MacLaughlin at Blackbaud offers this insightful analysis of the situation. Among other points, he makes this observation about the possible impact of institutional culture on fundraising priorities and strategies:
"Having recently spent a lot of time looking into online giving trends, I have one working theory as to what’s going on in higher education. These institutions have traditionally relied heavily on major gift programs for the majority of their fundraising. The culture of fundraising is focus on a small number of large gifts instead of a large number of smaller gifts. The exception is at colleges and universities where a strong and well developed annual fund is in place. These organizations have been able to leverage online giving to contribute to the annual fund and a growing number of online major gifts. But this requires change within the institution to really succeed.
Compare this to nonprofits that traditionally raise the majority of their revenue from direct marketing programs. These organizations raise tremendous amounts of dollars both online and offline through smaller gifts. Their adoption of online giving required much less change in the fundraising culture of the organization. They simply added another channel and applied many of the same direct marketing principles. These nonprofits represent the largest online fundraisers and raise a much higher percentage of total revenue from online giving than educational institutions."
If you fundraise for an educational institution, the CASE study and Steve’s analysis are "must read." And the "culture" question might indeed apply to any major gift-driven charity. The rest of our readers … you’re entitled to a bit of smug satisfaction today!
Tom
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