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Message: <br /><br /> If you are having trouble reading this email, you may view this article online at: http://www.jweekly.com/18435/full/18435/nonprofits-find-web-fund-raising-is-the-road-to-success/ <br /><br /> <b>Nonprofits find Web fund-raising is the road to success</b> <br /> Friday, September 6, 2002 | by <p>JOE BERKOFSKY </p> <br /><br /><p>NEW YORK—Some Jewish charities are mining the Internet for donations, and they're discovering a virtual mother lode.<br /><br /> A survey of online giving by the Chronicle of Philanthropy found that the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago/Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago and the Jewish National Fund were the biggest Jewish Web success stories of 2001.<br /><br /> The Chicago federation raised $501,223 online last year, up a whopping 139 percent from the previous year. The JNF raised $375,000, up 65 percent from 2001.<br /><br /> Locally, the S.F.-based Jewish Community Federation has been collecting donations via the Internet since February 2001. During the 2002 campaign year through May 31, 116 people used the Web site to make donations adding up to $56,147. And an additional $53,817 was collected online for the Israel Emergency Campaign.<br /><br /> "In general, it's not the first choice of how to give at this point across the board," said Suzan Berns, a spokeswoman for the JCF. "As technology gets better and we have enough security so people can access accounts and see what they've done before, I think it will become more commonly used."<br /><br /> While the Jewish Federation of the Greater East Bay began collecting via its new revamped Web site about three months ago, the information as to how much its taken in was not yet available. The Jewish Federation of Greater San Jose is planning to collect via the Web in the future, but hasn't taken that step yet.<br /><br /> Though still a digital drop in the bucket compared to the tens of millions of dollars these groups raise the old-fashioned way, the executive vice president of the JNF, Russell Robinson, sees great promise in Web fund raising, which he calls "the blue box of the 21st century."<br /><br /> "Our vision is to raise perhaps in the millions of dollars with e-philanthropy," Robinson said.<br /><br /> Still, Steven Nasatir, president of the Chicago federation, was cautious about hailing Web fund raising as the next big thing.<br /><br /> "I don't think you can create community online," Nasatir said. "It's another tool to connect with people. We believe in the human, face-to-face, touching people and talking with people" brand of fund raising.<br /><br /> But the Web can enhance the federation's place in communal life, Nasatir said.<br /><br /> "This is just a further extension that we're the central place to identify with Israel and with Jewish issues," he said.<br /><br /> Still, Chicago clearly has convinced many of the 1,500 people who surf the federation's Web site each day to click on a pledge box and use their credit card.<br /><br /> In 2001, the federation saw a 139 percent jump in online donations over the $210,000 raised in 2000. The site was launched in late 1999.<br /><br /> The Chicago federation's online efforts likely will remain a modest part of the group's overall fund raising, he added. The federation raised $67.2 million in its 2001 campaign, he said.<br /><br /> Trying to raise money exclusively online "would be a very bad idea," Nasatir said.<br /><br /> An while the JNF's electronic fund raising is generating heat, the group raises far more in the physical world.<br /><br /> In 2001, JNF raised $30.1 million and $35.5 million in 2000. JNF's site raised $227,000 in 2000 and $100,000 in 1999.<br /><br /> Unlike Chicago's federation, JNF is taking a more aggressive approach to online fund raising. JNF sent solicitations about e-fund raising to 35,000 people on an e-mail list, according to Sarina Roffe, JNF's director of communications.<br /><br /> But it remains unclear whether Jewish groups can increase their online fund raising and dig up even more donations. Mark Charendoff, president of the Jewish Funders Network, said Jewish nonprofits remain in the early stages of hunting for digital donations.<br /><br /> "We'll have to see if this is a convenient alternative to writing a check," Charendoff said.<br /><br /> So far, "I don't think the Jewish community has been creative enough in using the Web, besides 'click here and use your credit card,'" he said.</p> <p> </p>

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