Offline donors are often processed and managed manually, with paper receipts being the most common way of collecting donation information. This can be quite labour intensive and requires staff to input donation data and manage databases. When it rises to any significant size, this can become quite costly. That is why many organisations have decided to go online, collecting donations and donor information via the web.
Online donors can be hard to come by for an organisation with little strategy as to how to reach prospective supporters. When donors are given the option to donate online, collecting the right information is vital, or prospective donors may abandon the decision to give money to a charity. Fields such as 'Title' and 'birth date' can impede the prospective donor and cause up to a 25% loss or failure to proceed of donations through the web.
For many organisations without the skills and staff, collecting donations online can be quite a tricky task. From payment gateways to website development there is often a need for professional help with fairly little money to go around to get it done. Paypal has become a default for online donations, as the process is fairly simple and the company gives the right tools quickly to help organisations get their donations up and running quickly.
Finding the right skills
As there is often a need for the right skills to help develop a clear and concise donor management strategy, outside help is often sought. Companies exist to help raise the profile of charities, increase donor giving, increase supporter involvement, or simply for acquisition of new donors.
In each case, it is up for the individual charity to determine if they are needing the advice of an outside organisation or if they wish to forge their own path, even if slower than potentially possible.
Often a fundraising manager is hired, to ensure that the skills are retained inhouse and power is not given over to another organisation. This can be a boon to a charity, while proponents of the 'outsourced' model would say that you acquire many more people behind a company and more up to date skills to help your organisation flourish at the same price as a single full time employee.
By the way, you can find more advice and help on donation tracking and fundraising on the web.
