Bob Levey (Barbara Tyroler)

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Q&A With Bob Levey
Washington Post Columnist
Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2001; Noon EST

"Levey Live" appears Tuesdays at noon EST. Your host is Washington Post columnist Bob Levey. This hour is your chance to talk directly to key Washington Post reporters and editors, local officials and people in the news.

Today, Bob’s guest is Ted Hart, founder and president of the ePhilanthropy Foundation.

The transcript follows.

Hart's ePhilanthropy Foundation is dedicated to the fostering the use of the Internet for philanthropic purposes. Hart is also president of the fund raising consulting firm Hart Philanthropic Services Group headquartered in Columbia, Md.

Hart has served as CEO of the University Maryland Medical System Foundation, and before that as chief development officer for Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center. He serves on the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) International Board of Directors.

Hart is an editor of the new book Fundraising On The Internet: The ePhilanthropyFoundation.Org’s Guide To Success Online, and is a contributing author to the upcoming book Achieving Excellence in Fund Raising Second Edition scheduled for release in 2003. He is currently an adjunct faculty member to the Fund Raising Management Program at Goucher College in Maryland. He resides in Columbia, Md. with his daughter and son.

Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.

Bob Levey: Mr. Hart should be joining us momentarily. Thanks for your patience.

Bob Levey: Good afternoon, Mr. Hart, and thanks so much for joining us today. No question that Sept. 11 has produced more first-time on-line donors to charity than any event in history. But how many of those first-timers will give again? And how many will give again via the Web?

Ted Hart: Good afternoon, please call me Ted.

In answer to your question: The most difficult thing any nonprofit will find soliciting gifts online is getting the donor to make the first online gift. With more than 1.3 million online donors giving just since September 11th, every nonprofit must develop a strategy that offers this option to their supporters.

Rockville, MD: There are continuing reports that many charities are suffering this year as a result of the emphasis on giving to the families of Sept. 11 victims (some ads still seem to imply that funds are going to actual victims who survived the attacks but I guess there are few of those). What's your take on this? I've seen little info on the relative need of those families receiving aid, or even criteria being used for the dispensing of funds. What are other charities doing to overcome the problem?

Ted Hart: Many charities are suffering. Our survey shows that about 25% of charities are experiencing declines in donations since September 11th. Many charities have had to lay off workers to meet budgets. This is of great concern because charities provide the safety net so many poor people need when they loose their jobs or tragedy hits.

The criteria for tranfering donations to families is being developed by each agency. The American Red Cross has been working very hard to even find the families of victims with only about 2900 families identified so far. The September 11 Fund has issued a statement that it will be distributing funds both to families of direct victims but will also be providing relief to others effected by the tragic terrorist attacks. This is still evolving. The most important issue is that donors be assured that the good work they did in making a gift will go to releive the suffering of those effected.

Charities need to be very proactive in sending a message to donors they need their support and what they intend to do with that support!

Bob Levey: How can an on-line donor be sure that his or her name won't be resold to fundraisers for other charities?

Ted Hart: Charities that subscribe to the ePhilanthropy Code of Ethics are honor bound to share with donors upfront how their confidential information will be used. The donor is to be provided with the option to have his/her name removed from future communication lists.

A copy of this code can be obtained free at:
http://ephilanthropyfoundation.org

Bob Levey: In my own charity drives, I'm finding a Peter-and-Paul problem. More and more donors are giving on-line. But for the most part, they are people who used to give by mail. So the on-line bucks I'm seeing are shifted dollars, rather than new dollars. Are other fund-raisers finding the same thing?

Ted Hart: Online giving should not be viewed as "found" money. The point of ePhilanthropy is the opportunity to enhance communciation and relationship with donors. If they give online it is because they find it convenient to give online. This is not an either or proposition. Properly managed nonprofit organizations should provide more options not fewere, they should integrate online giving with other options.

Bob Levey: Many professional fund-raisers say that on-line fundraising will help the "big fish" far more than it will help the guppies, because of "brand name recognition." Is this true? And if it is, what can the guppies do about it?

Ted Hart: The Internet will help all organizations, but it is the smallest organizations with the smallest budgets that stand to benefit the most. With renewed opportunities to communicate efficiently with a wider audience. Lets face it, large organizations have the resources to communicate when they want, with whom they want, smaller organizations can use email and a free or inexpensive website to communicate to their supporters more often than ever before.

Bob Levey: In 2000, individual giving to charities in the U.S. totalled $152 billion-with-a-b. Since Sept. 11, on-line giving has totalled $106 million-with-an-m--peanuts, relatively speaking.
Does this mean that Americans are still uncomfortable with on-line giving? That they don't know about it? That charities aren't offering it as an option?

Ted Hart: Online giving in 2000 totaled $250 million, an increase from $10 million the year before. With $128 million donated just since September 11th, we are seeing millions of Americans using online giving.

Bob Levey: Let's say I receive an e-mail with an embedded link to a charity site. Is this legitimate, or a con?

Ted Hart: There are steps a donor should take to protect themselves. We have issued Tips for Online Giving, a copy is available at http://ephilanthropyfoundation.org

Bob Levey: Even a graybeard like Bob Levey can guess that young donors are especially fond of on-line giving. What do the percentages look like? Do under-30s give half of all the dough contributed on-line in America? More?

Ted Hart: The average age of online donors is 35-40 years old. The largest growing online population is age 55+.

Bob Levey: How can donors protect themselves against on-line scams? Some of them look pretty ingenious and pretty persuasive.

Ted Hart: Please refer to our Tips for Online Giving available at http://ephilanthropyfoundation.org

Bob Levey: The greatest surges in on-line giving have taken place right after wars and natural disasters. Do you think that trend will continue?

Ted Hart: Anytime there is a very public need in face of disaster we will see people respond. We are blessed to live in that kind of society.

However, thousands of organizations are using online services to build stronger relationships, communicate and raise money. The stronger trend will be in online giving to a broader range of organizations.

DC: Hello Mr. Hart,

I was wondering if the Internet is a viable option for schools seeking to raise money. Specifically, charter schools, which are often struggling for money to pay for facilities. How would you suggest such small corporations make the Web work for them?

Ted Hart: Organizations should view the Internet first as a communication tool and an opportunity to build relationships, then try to raise money.

The first step to success is to seek permission from supporters to communicate using email. [refer to the ePhilanthropy Code of Ethics Section B. #4 which requires donors have the option to 'opt in' to email communication and 'opt out' at any time], begin communicating online and link back to a simple, yet informative website. As the online relationship grows then the organization can consider seeking support. There are a couple of free services that will help organization accept gifts on a safe, secure encrypted site: http://www.networkforgood.org and http://www.charitywave.com

East Brunswick, New Jersey: What are your suggestions for both reaching these donors and what kind of strategies are most effective for allowing for online donations?

Ted Hart: The most effective way to reach donors is to ask permission to send email updates and other electronic communication. The strategy is varied and will need to specific to the historical fundraising trends of the organization (i.e. Special Events, direct mail, planned giving, etc). Each of these strategies are discussed in detail in our new book Fundraising On The Internet: The ePhilanthropy Foundation.org's Guide to Success Online (available online at http://ePhilanthropyFoundation.org). But starting with simple communication online is the key to long term success. Remember East Brunswick, its all about relationships!

Alexandria, Virginia: What advice might you have on how we can work together as a fundraising community to collectively reach our donors in this time of uncertainty? It seems that if we all just start trying to grab up the philanthropists as quickly as possible, our mission will fail.

Ted Hart: It is up to the donor to give or not. The fundraising community should be supporting each other's ability to attract support, but each organization should share its individual mission. Online services like Network For Good are a great way to give hundreds of thousands of organizations free access to ePhilanthropy.

Try not to make decisions for donors, leave that to them. But give them the opportunities to give!

DC - Reality of who is in need: Maybe I'll be stoned for saying this, but the families of those killed on 9/11 have many many sources for monetary benefits - federal $$ for police/fire/EMS workers, Red Cross assistance, the Twin Towers Fund, and the millions collected by celebrities. Not that their loss isn't great, but the hotel bellman who just got laid off, the families of those killed in the plane that crashed in Queens, or the children of parents killed in a fire on Thanksgiving are just as impacted by lifes tragedies as those in NY on 9/11. The local charities are hurting and because they don't have a heart-tugging story to share with the public, they are losing out. It's the local charities that do the real work when it really counts - and people don't seem to get that message.

Ted Hart: I am not sure if there is a question here or not, but I will take this opportunity to draw attention to the ePhilanthropy Code of Ethics Section E #1 which requires that donations be used for the purpose in which they were given.

Donor intent should direct the use of these funds.

East Brunswick, New Jersey: Creative Educational Systems (CES), a for-profit business has developed a coalition with Marymount Manhattan College (Department of Continuing Education), Career Transition for Dancers, The Actors'Fund of America and Music for Many, Inc. (all not-for-profit organizations) to seek funding for sending teaching artists into the New York City schools to help students deal productively with the September 11th attack and its aftermath. Our question is how can we best obtain the requisite funding as quickly as possible, because the need is evident and the timing crucial?

Ted Hart: ePhilanthropy is not quick money. Raising money takes time and requires carefully cultivated relationships.

Bob Levey: Is on-line giving more popular in other countries?

Ted Hart: Online giving, pre-September 11, was actually growing faster in South and Central America. Growth in the US is very strong right now.

Bob Levey: When President Bush mentioned www.libertyunites.org on worldwide television, the response was absolutely incredible. How much of it was first-time on-line donors?

Ted Hart: It is difficult to say how many were first time online donors, but it is expected to be very high with more than 1.3 million people already having made a gift to libertyunites.org related charities.

Bob Levey: You just mentioned that raising money takes time--time to make the case, time to cultivate a relationship. Yet the very speed of the Web may make some charities think that they can speed up the process by funs-raising on-line. Can they?

Ted Hart: That would not be our advice. Offering more communication, more information and building relationships is the key to giving online. By offering more options and encrypted online services donors are likely to give when they are moved to give rather than waiting to receive a letter in the mail, this may speed things up, but should not be viewed as the reason to use online giving techniques.

DC - Re: Reality: I guess the question is, how are local charities to survive post 9/11 if they aren't part of the 9/11 mix? I read recently that food banks in DC are desparate for assistance (shelves are almost bare).

Ted Hart: The Washington Post reported on the need in local food banks in a very well written article. This is a concern, our advice is for organizations that are not recieveing 9/11 related fundst to be bold and share the need of those they serve.

Donors who have supported local needs did not do so, only to see those people suffer now. But the ask must be made and the story told.

Thank you to the Washington Post for helping get the story told.

Bob Levey: Last January, Dallas Morning News Charities reported that on-line gifts had not increased all that much in number compared with gifts a year earlier. However, the SIZE of the average gift nearly doubled in just a year. Is this true for other on-line fundraisers?

Ted Hart: While it is too early to make general statements, report after report suggests that online donations are larger than comparable direct mail donations.

Washington, DC: The Red Cross fundraising debacle in the wake of the Sept. 11 massacres has caused many potential donors to look at even the best of charities with a skeptical eye. Couple the usual nostrums about how much these enterprises squander on overhead, and the wary attitude many have toward the integrity of the Internet, and you must find yourself in quite a quandary. Your response?

Ted Hart: It is healthy for donors to ask questions of the charities they support. More informed donors is a positive trend for the nonprofit world. There is nothing to suggest that the integrity of the Internet, the Red Cross or online giving is in serious trouble, however charities everywhere must become accustomed to providing more detailed information about the use of gifts.

Donors on the other hand need to understand that it does cost money to raise money and to ensure ethical, efficient and professional management of our chairites we must not pretend that there is no cost to maintaining strong and accountable charities.

Bob Levey: Uncle Sam has always been a huge "enabler" of fund-raising, because he allows us to deduct our gifts on our tax returns. Is there any reason to think that on-line gifts won't be deductible, too?

Ted Hart: No reason to at all.

A charitable gift made to a 501 (c) 3 charitable organization online or off follow the same accounting and IRS guidelines.

Bob Levey: If a person's credit card number is stolen or misused in the world of commerce, federal law says the cardholder is responsible for only the first $50 of fraudulent use. Does the same protection apply to credit card fraud in connection with on-line donations?

Ted Hart: Yes it does.

Bob Levey: It's easy to imagine a charity falling in love with on-line fundraising. It costs virtually nothing. It's quick and very efficient. You don't have to run bake sales or special events. Yet your literature warns charities against converting to all-Internet fund-raising. Why?

Ted Hart: We believe that options and opportunity will provide the greatest success for nonprofits. We wouldnt suggest everything be done online anymore than we would suggest giving up personal visits, the telephone or direct mail.

Donors have many expectations of the charities they support, nonprofits need to communicate in a variety of forms to meet those expectations.

Bob Levey: Network for Good made its debut in Web-land just a few days ago. It's a massive portal site that will put you in touch with 850,000 American non-profits, just like that. You can then give money to any or all. Sounds like a truly wonderful idea. How's it working out so far?

Ted Hart: http://NetworkForGood.Org is the next generation in online services offered by our friends in the for profit world. Build upon the assets of the AOL Time Warner service http://www.helping.org, Network For Good offers multiple services. In addition to online giving, volunteerism and advocacy. The launch has been a great success and the services, already strong, will continue to grow over time.

Bob Levey: Since the use of a computer generally "tracks" with education and income level, I'd think that higher education fund-raisers would be way out front in their use of on-line fundraising. Would I be right?

Ted Hart: Every sector of the nonprofit world is working to learn ePhilanthropy techniques, higher education was not the first to move in this direction.

Bob Levey: Before I give a nickel to anybody, I check them out thoroughly. Are you satisfied that a charity's Web site will always provide sufficient information to prospective donors? What can a propsective donor do to check further?

Ted Hart: No, at this time there is no reason to suggest that a website represents a legitimate charity. This is why we issued the ePhilanthropy Foundation's Tips for Online Giving to help donors give wisely online.

Available free at: http://ePhilanthropyFoundation.org

Bob Levey: Has anyone come up with a way to give on-line without using a credit card?

Ted Hart: Most banks offer online banking which allows a donor to have a check sent to their favorite charity online. Charities can also consider services such as http://www.paybycheck.com

Bob Levey: One of the great calling cards of the Internet is that it's available 24 hours a day. But do on-line donors to charity really make use of this aspect of the Web? I'll bet that most on-line gifts are made during business hours. True?

Ted Hart: Gifts are given anytime day or night. Donors have the option that is the strength.

Bob Levey: As you know, most of the biggest gifts to charity are planned gifts--usually dollars that pass to a charity after someone's death. How can the Web play a part in this kind of gift?

Ted Hart: Planned Giving information and charitable gift calculators to support planned giving is one of the strongest way a charity can use the Internet. Often these are complex issues for both the donor and the charity, the Internet allows communication and education that will support these efforts.

Bob Levey: The Red Cross did two very controversial things with all those millions it collected right after Sept. 11. It decided (for a while, anyway) to spend the money on its own agenda, not on the fmailies of the victims. And it refused to share its data base--which essentially meant it was hogging the names and addresses of the donors. To say the least, the non-profit community was outraged. So were many donors. Do you think the controversy will harm non-profit fundraising?

Ted Hart: We support full disclosure and use of funds that follows donor intent. Fundraising flourishes when donors can trust this process.

Bob Levey: In less than a year, every member of the House and one-third of the Senate will be up for re-election. These people are super-good at fund-raising. How much of it do they do on-line? How much of it WILL they do on-line?

Ted Hart: I would like to suggest we separate charitable giving from political fundraising. PLEASE.

Bob Levey: Many thanks to Ted Hart for a highly informative hour. Be sure to join us next Tuesday, Dec. 4, when our guest on "Levey Live" will be Arthur Spitzer, legal director of the National Capital Area chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. We'll be discussing the civil liberties implications of the recent steps taken by the Bush Administration against terrorists and terrorism. That discussion will begin at noon Eastern time.

Bob Levey:

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