Following on from Tuesday’s very successful conference, chairing one of the afternoon breakout sessions aimed at the not-for profit sector was very interesting for me. Key points that arose for me highlighted that email is perhaps underutilised in the not-for profit sector.
Research shows that 28% of internet users in UK, France and Germany used the internet to donate to a charity. Whilst it’s clearly a long way behind purchasing of airline, train tickets at 89% it also also behind purchasing of private healthcare and healthcare products (Fleishman Hillard International Communications and Harris Interactive, Digital Influence Index Study, June 2008).
Simon Bird of Dotmailer’s presentation offered some insight into why this may be the case, with only one not-for profit out of fifteen surveyed following up an online donation with an email. Next month the company will release their report.
Yet, research from the US highlights that the not-for profit sector has much to gain from using the internet and email to drive donors online. Including in the opinion of donors online offers efficiency savings, immediacy as well as the ability to respond quickly. (The Wired Wealthy: Using the Internet to Connect to your Middle and Major Donors, March 2008)
DMA members can download The Wired Wealthy Report free of charge from the members area of the DMA website. Thank you to Sea Change Strategies for permission to allow DMA members to access this report, link.
Hitting the Heart, the Dotmailer research can be downloaded from the Dotmailer site, link.
Richard Gibson
RSA Direct
Richard Gibson is Chair of the Email Marketing Council and Channel Relationship Manager at Return Path. View the full bio here.
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