Comments on: The Silver Plate http://www.digitaldiner.org/2007/06/12/the-silver-plate/?&owa_from=feed&owa_sid= Gavin Clabaugh's irregular blog on irregular things. Thu, 20 Nov 2008 17:19:22 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Cade http://www.digitaldiner.org/2007/06/12/the-silver-plate/#comment-1873 Cade Sun, 19 Aug 2007 00:29:44 +0000 http://www.digitaldiner.org/2007/06/12/the-silver-plate/#comment-1873 hi nice post, i enjoyed it hi nice post, i enjoyed it

]]> By: Mike http://www.digitaldiner.org/2007/06/12/the-silver-plate/#comment-1124 Mike Wed, 13 Jun 2007 17:29:15 +0000 http://www.digitaldiner.org/2007/06/12/the-silver-plate/#comment-1124 Gavin- Excellent points you make. I can absolutely see the reasoning that being able to give money online is not necessarily reason enough to believe that the overall pie of charitable giving is increasing. However, keep in mind these other points: -In regards to the silver plate theory-- a big reason for big donations at churches is simply peer pressure. "Everybody else is giving, why aren't you?" I think everybody will agree that asking for donations in person is the most effective way to do it, and the silver plate capitalizes on that. -A web site is a lot more viral, in that if I come across a charity's web site, I can easily pass it on to 2 or 200 friends via email. This may spur donations that otherwise may never have happened. -The internet is still young! Mail has been around for decades and silver plates even longer, and the internet has some catching up to do. As the "older folks with more money" go online more often, maybe we'll see increased donations. Time will tell. Just my thoughts. Thanks for springing the discussion! -Mike Gavin-
Excellent points you make. I can absolutely see the reasoning that being able to give money online is not necessarily reason enough to believe that the overall pie of charitable giving is increasing. However, keep in mind these other points:
-In regards to the silver plate theory– a big reason for big donations at churches is simply peer pressure. “Everybody else is giving, why aren’t you?” I think everybody will agree that asking for donations in person is the most effective way to do it, and the silver plate capitalizes on that.
-A web site is a lot more viral, in that if I come across a charity’s web site, I can easily pass it on to 2 or 200 friends via email. This may spur donations that otherwise may never have happened.
-The internet is still young! Mail has been around for decades and silver plates even longer, and the internet has some catching up to do. As the “older folks with more money” go online more often, maybe we’ll see increased donations. Time will tell.

Just my thoughts. Thanks for springing the discussion!
-Mike

]]> By: Lucy Bernholz http://www.digitaldiner.org/2007/06/12/the-silver-plate/#comment-1119 Lucy Bernholz Tue, 12 Jun 2007 20:55:11 +0000 http://www.digitaldiner.org/2007/06/12/the-silver-plate/#comment-1119 Gavin An excellent analysis. And right on target of something I and others have been wondering - if you take all the data sources about giving - Giving USA, Fndn Center, IRS data, global giving indices, nnalyses of HNW, etc etc and try to triangulate the date you tend to get...something resembling either 1) the elusive one-sided triangle or 2) a whorly mess of lines going every which way. I agree that online giving has probably not increased the pie (the key fact being the one you mention about giving as percent of individual income, which has barely budged over the same 40 year time period that the number of ways to give has exploded). But what bothers me more is that I'm not sure we actually know how much is given. Gavin
An excellent analysis. And right on target of something I and others have been wondering - if you take all the data sources about giving - Giving USA, Fndn Center, IRS data, global giving indices, nnalyses of HNW, etc etc and try to triangulate the date you tend to get…something resembling either 1) the elusive one-sided triangle or 2) a whorly mess of lines going every which way.

I agree that online giving has probably not increased the pie (the key fact being the one you mention about giving as percent of individual income, which has barely budged over the same 40 year time period that the number of ways to give has exploded). But what bothers me more is that I’m not sure we actually know how much is given.

]]> By: Steve MacLaughlin http://www.digitaldiner.org/2007/06/12/the-silver-plate/#comment-1116 Steve MacLaughlin Tue, 12 Jun 2007 15:24:33 +0000 http://www.digitaldiner.org/2007/06/12/the-silver-plate/#comment-1116 Good stuff. A big problem is also the acquisition vs. retention model faced by many nonprofits. Online has proven to do a great job at acquiring new donors, but without the offline relationship building there is no loyalty. Constituents engaged through multiple channels, including online, are more loyal and give more in the long-term. Just some food for thought... Good stuff. A big problem is also the acquisition vs. retention model faced by many nonprofits. Online has proven to do a great job at acquiring new donors, but without the offline relationship building there is no loyalty. Constituents engaged through multiple channels, including online, are more loyal and give more in the long-term. Just some food for thought…

]]> By: jeremynyc http://www.digitaldiner.org/2007/06/12/the-silver-plate/#comment-1115 jeremynyc Tue, 12 Jun 2007 15:16:19 +0000 http://www.digitaldiner.org/2007/06/12/the-silver-plate/#comment-1115 Gavin, Great stuff. One nit I'll pick, though: I think there are times I do order more books from Amazon than I would buy at stores if the big A didn't exist; the ability to buy something right away means I more often _do_ buy the book that got someone interviewed on NPR, or that my friend just raved about, or that I saw referenced on some smart blog. These are basically impulse buys. I also do some impulse giving. I would imagine that most people do their giving in a more organized fashion that I do, and come up with a giving budget and allocate that to the folks with the best flash site asking for money, so I'm still with you for the most part on your argument. But I do wonder if disaster-related giving (because it's so ripe for impulse giving) is now a bigger part of GDP because of easy online giving... Jeremy Gavin,

Great stuff.

One nit I’ll pick, though: I think there are times I do order more books from Amazon than I would buy at stores if the big A didn’t exist; the ability to buy something right away means I more often _do_ buy the book that got someone interviewed on NPR, or that my friend just raved about, or that I saw referenced on some smart blog. These are basically impulse buys.

I also do some impulse giving. I would imagine that most people do their giving in a more organized fashion that I do, and come up with a giving budget and allocate that to the folks with the best flash site asking for money, so I’m still with you for the most part on your argument. But I do wonder if disaster-related giving (because it’s so ripe for impulse giving) is now a bigger part of GDP because of easy online giving…

Jeremy

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