E-mail outperforms other media as community builder, says US survey
Howard Lake | 23 April 2003 | News
E-mail is the most effective means for building community among non-profits’ constituents, according to an online survey by online service provider Kintera Inc.
E-mail was regarded as the most effective community building tool by 41% of poll respondents, compared to 25% who ranked ‘phone outreach as most effective.
Eighteen per cent said Web sites were most effective in building their community; while 16% noted that direct mail was best.
Of course, a Web-poll will skew the results since respondents will be largely self-selecting. It is not clear how many people responded to the poll.
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Dr. Harry Gruber, founder and CEO of Kintera, commented “only e-mail provides the immediacy and real-time connection that allows for this type of crucial interaction” among supporters. He cited the example of the 2002 AIDS Walk in New York: “online participants – a community of people with common interests – used Internet grassroots marketing tools to raise an incredible 350% more than offline participants.”
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.