While the negative outlook of our economy continues to be a concern of many Americans, major charities still claim it is not affecting their fundraising efforts.
            According to a New York Times article, entitled “Weakness in Economy Isn’t Hurting Charities”, 64 percent of charitable organizations that have responded so far to the Association of Fundraising Professionals’ annual survey on fundraising have stated they raised more money in 2007 than the year before.
            This comes as great news to all of our clients who may be worried about the economic situation their organization faces.  Not only have people continued to give through these tough times, but some have managed to donate even more than in the past.
            Paulette V. Maehara, President and Chief Executive of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, stated that these are preliminary findings but the status of charities looks okay at this point.
            “Our surveys tell us fund raising has been holding steady,” said Maehara.
 
Click here to check out the full New York Times article.

Make sure that you are taking advantage of all that your online community has to offer. Did you know that event registration, monthly eLetters, a searchable member directory and online giving capabilities are all included in the $150/month website fee? Read on to find out everything that is included in the monthly fee.
 
Member Capabilities:

• Update their contact and bio information
• Upload photos and share personal news updates
• Find friends through a private, password-protected searchable directory
• Make a secure donation
• Register for an event, pay event registration fees, and sign up for multiple activities related to an event

Content management services are included in the monthly fee:

• Weekly updates to the Annual Fund Honor Roll of Donors
• Monthly updates to main home page sections with alumni association and chapter information
• Packaging and posting member-generated content as it is secured by our content team

Monthly email marketing to members included in monthly fee:

• Personalized to each member
• Drives members back to site
• Promotes upcoming events
• Features and generates member content, such as photos and alumni news

Administrator tools available to volunteers

• Upload content
• Update member information
• Generate reports

Send email marketing to members
 

Earlier this month, we sent out a special edition of the eConnection that contained a link to our Affinity Connection newsletter. If you did not receive this email, you can download the newsletter here.