Q&A w/ Jordan Dossett on ePhilanthropy

Q.What do you think is the greatest advantage for a nonprofit organization to integrate a online donating component to their website?

[jordan] The most obvious would be the increased revenue. If a nonprofit were to only accept physical donations they rule out even the 1% they would get from online transactions. An additional advantage to increasing their income is they increase the area they can reach. Many nonprofits get focused on a local level. By opening up to the Web they can increase their intake and outreach globally.

Q.What is your opinion about "third-party" donation processing services such as ClickandPledge ( http://clickandpledge.com/) Kintera (http://www.kintera.org) and PayPal (http://www.paypal.com?)

[jordan] Kintera is not a third party donation processing service. I say this as they are a direct competitor to Antharia (my company). Yes, both Antharia and Kintera contract that servcie out but it is not truly Antharia or Kintera that "offers" the service. As for the others I think that some are ok and some are not. Take for example paypal which costs the user no money up front and is also easy for non tech savvy people to set up... this is an old school gem that has been around long before the others. As for clickandpledge I prefer NetworkforGood or Guidestar but still I guess you are asking me what my opinion about them in general is. I think that in some cases it is a very GOOD thing but I am a little saddened by them taking upwards of 3% per transaction. I do not suggest these third party solutions for any nonprofit bringing in more than $10,000 per year in online donations or transactions.

Q.What do you see as some of the ethical issues involved with ePhilanthropy, and what do you see organizations doing about these issues?

[jordan] wow, well that is a doozy. There are a myriad of pitfalls but not necesarrily ethical issues. I do think one issue that is border is "misappropriation of funds". Take for example all the online fundraising for Katrina. Millions of dollars were donated and orgs said the money would go directly to Katrinia related issues... then shortly the country is hit by Rita and the orgs with Katrina banners, ads and calls to action in place found themselves in a pracarious position. Do they repurpose Katrina cash for Rita and if so how is that different than the American Red Cross / 911 issue? I do think it is an ethinical issue that npo's put the money to use where they say it is going.

Q.How do you think ePhilanthropy affects the relationship between donors and organizations?

[jordan] When done well it can bridge the gaps. For example utilizing ePhilanthropy properly can allow organizations to create and embrace donors online. It takes away the need for paper follow up and puts the org and the donor in a real time community that they both can grow from.

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The above Q&A session took place on November 30, 2005 between Creative Director, Jordan Dossett and H. Shere an undergraduate student at Ithaca College.  Ms. Dossett is a ePMT (ePhilanthropy Master Trainer).

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