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Channel: MST 5327: Technology and Outreach in Museums » katieknight1
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Please don’t call me.

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I decided to focus my blog response on E-fundraising, primarily because I found it to be the most interesting aspect of the section we read in the book.  I do not like fundraising.  There, I said it.  Or wrote it, whatever.  But I do respect the efforts and dedication of the individuals who do the fundraising.  I have never actually done any fundraising (unless begging family for money counts) so I am approaching this blog response from my perspective as a donation maker.  Here goes!

To me, traditional fundraising has always seemed like such an invasive procedure.  Making phone calls and harassing people has never been high on my list.  I also despise mailers.  My mother constantly receives envelopes with pleas for money.  Some even contain money such as a penny, nickel, quarter, or even dollar.  Never dimes.  All I can think is “keep your money instead of asking me for more (and why don’t we get dimes)”.  It’s frustrating and environmentally wasteful.  E-fundraising on the other hand is brilliant in my world.  I don’t mind the emails because I can just delete them if I can’t afford to donate.  I do not have to talk with pushy people on the phone.  And most of all, there is no waste.  I am also so attached to my smart phone that I am not sure I can think without it, so I am constantly checking my email.  E-fundraising just seems like the most logical step towards the future of fundraising.

I don’t mind receiving multiple emails from campaigns.  I can read the subject line and if I feel compelled by the basic information for that particular cause, I can act on it.  Because I am such a good little student, I scoured my email for the most recent fundraising emails I have received from organizations I have supported in the past.  The first one I found was for the Humane Society of United States.  I rarely open these emails, not because I don’t care but because there is always something sad in the text.  For instance, I opened my most recent email to see an image of a baby seal being beaten to death (by the way, that image will forever be burned into my mind – you can understand why I do not open those emails).  When I can afford to I try and make a donation to the Humane Society.  As I clicked through the email I got to the emergency donation page.  There are a number of suggested donation quantities listed and one blank spot for what I deem appropriate.

  Look I added a picture!

Yes I made a donation.  Why?  Because I saw a picture of brutality and I became overwhelmingly sad and angry.  But I was able to act upon that feeling immediately and conveniently.  In fact my computer’s auto-fill did all the work.  I didn’t even need a stamp!  I also found the feature for choosing what I felt comfortable donating a very nice touch.  I have no money right now, but feel compelled to stand up against poor human behavior, so I donate what I can.  Yes there are suggestions and maybe one day I can make larger donations.  But I can do my part now and aspire to more in the future according to the organization’s suggested amounts.  As the article pointed out, leaving donation quantities up to “individual judgments” (p.234) increases the likelihood of giving.

The book mentioned the Carnegie Museum’s successful e-fundraising efforts and the fact that they used a fundraising company by the name of Convio.  I went to their website for further investigation (http://www.convio.com/).  It’s a Blackbaud company for any of you who care.  It is a very nice website with some fancy interactives and videos.  Very compelling.  The company basically says everything this article says to do.  They just charge you for it.  But honestly, it is probably worth the money to have an organized, experienced third-party set up your fundraising procedures for you.  They do all the research, build a custom system for your organization, and then guide you through it.  Convenient.  As one organization said on their website, they teach you to walk, then jog, then run.

Overall, I suspect that many people in my generation prefer a less invasive form of fundraising.  Something we can take charge of ourselves without the need for external harassment.  I think the trick for museums is to give something for people to care about and then gently and subtly placing themselves in front of the donating public at the right time.  I am a fan of e-fundraising because the emails come into my inbox and on my own time, at my own discretion I can choose what to do with them.


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