Book Review: Nonprofit Internet Strategies

Edited by Ted Hart; James M. Greenfield; Michael Johnston - John Wiley & Sons (2005)

Reviewed by Stephen C. Nill of http://www.charitychannel.com/

Those of us who manage nonprofit organizations have learned to use the Internet as a powerful communications medium. We invite the public to learn about us via our web sites and even to donate to us from a web browser. We've learned that this is just the beginning of the cultivation process, not the end. We've learned how to keep them coming back to the site. More importantly, we've learned to move them into our traditional cultivation processes once they make contact.

Our development officers have become accustomed to following up with those who've knocked on the door of our web site. We know that a donor who makes an on-line donation is often open to going deeper with the organization, and of increasing support -- if asked. We've learned to take these new-found supporters into our fold, and how to encourage more significant contributions from them.

Here's what else we've learned. We've learned to manage information in complex, server-based relational databases -- ours or those provided by firms who do this for us on their hardware. We share information internally via local networks and Intranets, and tie discrete offices together via virtual private network secure tunneling. We use extranets to facilitate strategic alliances with other organizations. To save money, we use voice over IP to replace traditional telephone circuits. We've even gone wireless.

Throughout all this, we gather information on our supporters and prospective supporters. We do so at Internet speeds, and with the organizing and retrieval efficiency of computers. We've learned to treat the information we gather with great care. The public support, we know, is a fragile thing.

Yes, we've learned a lot. If we haven't yet put all of what we've learned into place, we suspect that we would if we had a clear, sensible roadmap to doing so within the confines of our budgets.

The simple truth is that the use of technology is one of the more challenging aspects facing those who manage nonprofit organizations. First, it's complicated. (Virtual private WHAT?!) Second, it's hard to have a clear idea of how to think about technology in the unique context of running a nonprofit organization. Third, it's hard to determine the best way to implement technological solutions when there are so many being thrown at us. Lastly, how can we be sure we're following best practices?

We need help to sort all of this out -- even those of us who are not exactly new to all of this. As it happens, I've been deeply immersed in technology in the nonprofit context for years, having designed and lead the team that created one the first on-line systems utilizing the donor-advised fund gift methodology as the means to enable the public to donate to any 501(c)(3) public charity from a single web site donation portal. I designed and built some of the first on-line charitable donation systems for nonprofit organizations and educational institutions. I am a programmer and a web site developer. I am a computer science student; one of my hobbies is exploring the theory of utilizing quantum mechanics to construct a computing device. I am a lawyer. I have administered large and small fund development programs, and advised them. I even co-founded a couple of nonprofit organizations -- a pre-K through 8th grade school and a charity that feeds and clothse the poor. I have read just about every posting to every CharityChannel forum since inception, and read every article on the topic that I can get my hands on. I've written some articles, too.

Yet I am the first to admit that the Internet, even the Internet in the nonprofit context, is too big and complex to try to make sense out of it without turning to those who have specialized in a particular aspect of it. It's no different in law. My field is tax-exempt organization law. I wouldn't be the one to advise you on your automobile accident.

That is what interested me in the new book Nonprofit Internet Strategies: Best Practices for Marketing, Communications, and Fundraising. It taps the experts in each subject to write a chapter. This approach makes great sense to me.

The book sets out to show us how to leverage the Internet to:

• Advance our organizations or institutions cause.
• Raise more money both on-line and off by establishing relationships with new donors, and deepen the commitment of existing donors.
• Inform the public and our stakeholders.
• Raise public confidence and trust through better communication and transparency.

It succeeds. Each of its chapters is contributed by a leading expert in the topic discussed. The editors -- Ted Hart, James M. Greenfield, and Michael Johnston -- also contributed chapters of their own. Some of the writers will already be familiar to many of my CharityChannel colleagues because they've taught a Summit session, or a distance class. Some have penned articles for CharityChannel, or posted to one of the professional forums...

I recommend the book for anyone who is serious about doing a better job harnessing the Internet for their organization or institution. You can read it cover to cover as I did. It is also suited to picking and choosing particular chapters of interest.

The book is for busy nonprofit managers who must work within real-world budgets and who are pulled in a thousand directions by the demands of their jobs. It is for those who want to have a clear roadmap of how to proceed. The book is not for techno-geeks, as such. Even if you barely know how to turn on a computer, you can read this book without difficulty. Of course, if you happen to be technologically savvy, so much the better.

This book is for large organizations with big budgets and complex needs. It shows how to think about technology, and how to approach it even if the organization is well down the road with technology.

It is also for small organizations with limited budgets and big dreams. That is because technology in our sector has matured to the point where there are strategically-powerful solutions that do not require large expenditures. What is required, rather, is a clear understanding of where and how to proceed. Of course, no book can do it all when it comes to the Internet and the nonprofit world. But this book is one of the few must-reads for any nonprofit organization manager responsible Internet strategy.

Copyright © 2005 Stephen C. Nill. All rights reserved. This article is reprinted with permission from CharityChannel.com and the author of this article. The author holds the copyright to the article. To receive the entire issue by email each week, visit http://charitychannel.com/enewsletters. To seek permission for reprints, visit http://charitychannel.com/enewsletters/reprints. For more information, contact CharityChannel at http://charitychannel.com/rapid-reply.

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