Online giving is still growing, but triple-digit annual increases are a thing of the past. Internet fundraising grew by roughly 13 percent last year, according to a 2014 survey of 100 of the largest nonprofits conducted by The Chronicle of Philanthropy.
While online giving continues to gain steam, it still accounts for a very small portion of the money charities rely on. Among the 76 nonprofits that provided both their online and overall giving totals for 2013, the median share of online gifts is just 2 percent of all donations from private sources.
To keep the revenue flowing, nonprofits are testing online strategies carefully, integrating them with more traditional fundraising tactics, and hiring experts dedicated to online efforts.
The March of Dimes, for instance, used Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to raise money for its 2013 “March for Babies” fundraising events but still relied on face-to-face fundraising for more than three-quarters of the nearly $100-million it raised.
“I have yet to see pure online fundraising really take off,” says Patricia Goldman, the group’s chief marketing officer. “It has to be connected to the real world. That’s why we’re still doing runs, walks, and rides.”
Click here to read the full article published May 18, 2014 and access the survey.