Are We Ready to Eliminate the Printed Fundraising Auction Invitation?

When I've got time, I like to pop over to some of my favorite writers covering the non-profit and technology space. I can always learn something.

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Heather Mansfield of DIOSA Communications conducted eleven surveys using the Twitter application TwtPoll and she posted the results online, calling it "11 TwtPoll Results Nonprofits Can Use to Plan 2010 Communications Strategies."*

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One of the questions - well really, one of the responses - caught my eye. For ease of reading, I've posted the entire question and the responses below:

4) ATTN Donors: Do you prefer to give $$$ to your favorite organizations via:**

71% The organization's website

13% Check/snail mail

11% An online giving portfolio service (like Change.org)

5% A social networking site (like Facebook)

What grabbed me was that 71% - not just a majority, but a whopping majority - said they prefer to give through the Website online. Now of course, this is just a quick survey on Twitter. I don't know how many respondents there were. And because it was a Twitter-based survey, I can - with reasonably accuracy, I believe - assume that the people who responded are comfortable using the Internet in general and online tools more specifically. (And this demographic may not be the same demographic as those people giving at charity auctions.) But upon seeing that 71% number, it did get me to thinking about its application to my niche of fundraising auctions.

I'm wondering whether guests to a charity auction would actually prefer registering for the event online at the organization's website instead of mailing in their invitation and check. Generally I recommend that clients always have an online invitation available to complement their printed materials. The e-version is particularly useful for corporate clients.

But to date, I've still advocated that groups need a printed invitation. It is my opinion that the formal printed invitation has not yet been made obsolete by the "evite." Many guests still expect to receive their printed, attractive invitation in the mail, especially if the event demands a more expensive ticket price. (Even I prefer the printed version, and I'm a bit of a techy.)

But this quick poll on Twitter is an interesting data point. Whether it's the canary in the coal mine foreshadowing a certain death of traditional mail fundraising - or printed invitations - is yet to be seen. But certainly as tech-savvy (or simply tech-comfortable) donors age, the electronic version of the charity auction invitation will be used more often, thereby saving planners of charity auctions the costs of printing and mailing invitations. Those tend to be two of the traditionally more expensive areas of an auction budget, so reducing those costs is a good combination, indeed.

*The poll is online at http://nonprofitorgs.wordpress.com/2009/12/30/11-twtpoll-results-nonprofits-can-use-to-help-plan-2010-communications-strategies/

**The above results from Question 4 are online at [ http://twtpoll.com/f3em80 ]

Are We Ready to Eliminate the Printed Fundraising Auction Invitation?

Called the "Queen of Benefit Auctions," fundraising auctioneer Sherry Truhlar, CMP, BAS has been featured in national publications (The Washington Post Magazine... AUCTIONEER) and on cable television programs (E! Style... TLC) for her trend-setting work with auction fundraisers. In addition to servicing clients through an elegant and playful auctioneering style, she specializes in a variety of popular online classes to teach volunteer auction chairpersons the simple steps for improving the financial bottom-line of their charity auctions. Her free or nearly free auction ideas are used by hundreds of charities, and her popular, FREE Auction Item GuideTM is downloaded by dozens each day who seek auction procurement help. GET YOUR OWN FREE GUIDE (listing the 100 top-selling items you can sell in your auction) AT http://www.RedAppleAuctions.com.

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