This is a little striking, given the exponential growth in online giving in recent years.  It’s true the growth stemmed largely in part from disaster relief giving.  But non-disaster organizations have demonstrated big growth too - more than 50% median increase in the last year according to a Chronicle online giving survey from last year.
 
So by and large, non-profits are engaging in online fundraising. What then explains the apparent vacuum of job openings, in this budding channel of individual giving?

Those of you who play a role in your non-profit’s online presence, platforms and programs: I’m sure you appreciate there is most definitely a capacity demand for managing and implementing all the parts of an online giving program!

The online fundraising "function" demands intuitive, quick learning, orchestration of email and web creative, copy, landing pages, approvals, formatting, delivery, troubleshooting, and reporting.  Staff must stay apace with rapidly advancing technology (eCRM systems, social networking, eg).

And lest we forget the unique "extra chore" of collaborating (or forging, or mediating, as the case may be) partnerships, cross-departmentally - given that online constituent management spans business groups of fundraising, communications, IT, corporate partnerships, cause marketing, and donor services. 

So capacity requirements are a tall order for online fundraising. But if job openings are not to be found, here’s a theory of why that might be:

• Some stalwart and enterprising core fundraisers out there are wearing multiple hats, doing double and triple-duty - offline, online and multi-channel coordinating (Does this sound familiar to you?  Tell us, we’re tallying!)
• These good folks are having a hard time persuading boards to approve funding for staff, expertise, or tools, sans long term validating research. After all, online giving growth may be 50% plus, but it still remains less than 1-2% of overall fundraising for many nonprofits. This makes it hard vying for staff budget over other units.
• Board members become off-base obstacles for funding—eg,  poo-pooing online because "it’s really a ‘space’ for the grandkids".
• Many employers aren’t sure what a job description should rightly require for online fundraising staff.  "what % and years experience for traditional direct response, v. online marketing, v. web designing, v. database management... and how do I split the positions out?"

So this is interesting again. Because we are regularly stirred by successful multi-channel case studies at the non-profit conferences... but it appears there’s a situation, of many nonprofits still striving to establish and staff basic online fundraising operations.

Believe it or not, the for-profit email marketers are likewise struggling with web staffing. See this excerpt from a popular email marketing conference, titled "staffing headaches":

"[Email summit conference] attendees discussed their staffing woes. For instance, how many team members should they have? When so many emailers double- and triple-duty with Web, search and other multichannel aspects, how do you get dedicated staff?"

Maybe you’re in this quandary and you’re under-staffed with your online fundraising functions. Take heart in this: online giving will continue to grow; the prognosis is rosy in this regard. So, watch for the upward trend reports, save them, distribute them, make and reiterate the case to your boards, that online fundraising is by now, a basic channel function. And it’s required to stay competitive in the online donor market.  Otherwise you leave (lose) money on the table for other nonprofits who have that foundation and staff to operate and develop the platform, and cultivate donor relationships more deeply.

March 2007