<i>&gt;One option is to allow browsers to pay dues/membership fees/make</i>
donations on-line. You could follow Glenn's lead and set up your
server to accept CyberCash; another option is to accept First Virtual
payments (the Internet Society--professional organization for the
Internet--uses First Virtual, for example). Or, accept both.&gt;
I am on the board of a non-profit called Impact Online who has been using First
Virtual for some time (we think we are the first non-profit to accept online
donations). FV works very well, but is limited to only those who have a FV
account. We provide a link for people to set-up accounts, but in the spontaneous
world of non-profit giving, if people can't donate on the spot, they won't.
This was a big problem for our recent fund-raiser, Cookin' On The Net. We had
thousands of people hit the "donate" button, but a very low percentage of actual
donors. Part of the reason (we think) is because people did not want to take the
time setting up a FV account.
Again, no slam on FV (they in fact have a very good service), but donating
online is a very time sensitive issue: the urge to give is usually spontaneous
and needs to happen in real-time (like taking change out of your pockets for
folks on the street). FV can be problematic here is people don't already have
accounts.
In this light, secure servers like those from Netscape or Open Market are a good
option as people can easily put in their credit card info. I know Netscape gives
its server away for free to non-profits, but I am not sure about Open Market
(Since Open Market is in Cambridge, I am sure they can be convinced to help out
for the PR opp)
FYI, Impact Online just finished a neat survey about online giving. Hopefully
we can post the results of the survey soon. We found out that people are still
not too keen on giving to non-profits online.
-Chip
****************************************
Chip Hall
Senior Account Executive
Niehaus Ryan Haller, PR Inc.
415-827-7088
chip@nrh.com
www.nrh.com
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