For a long time we were all recommending this. Digital annual reports were a part of the paperless society all this technology was supposed to be working towards. As more and more nonprofits got their web site up and learned to make them informative and interactive, more and more took the advice of having their reports available for all to read. In some circles, it even became a matter of pride.
The consultant today said that the trend is now reversing. Fewer and fewer organizations are posting their annual reports online. The reason? Donor poachers!
Now, I'm well aware of the practice of reviewing other group's donor lists for ideas (whenever we go to a museum my wife has to remind me that the donor wall plaque is not the exhibit we went to see), but I was not aware that this had put a chill on sharing annual reports digitally.
How big a problem could this really be? You should be thanking your large foundation, corporate, and major individual donors publicly and frequently already - this list should not be a secret - so what is so different about the annual report? Are development officers now afraid that other organizations are stealing their smaller donors as well? Who is matching the names in annual reports to phone books to make contact lists? Nobody that I know of.
I'd like to know if this is really true. If you work with an organization that has previously posted your annual report online, or at least considered it, and now will not because of donor poachers, please let me know! What led you to that decision: a real problem with people contacting your donors, or just the perception of a potential problem? Send me an email, or comment here on the blog. Thanks!
Tags: nonprofit, annual reports, web sites, donors, fundraising, poachers, consultants
Posting annual reports online and donor poachers
![Posting annual reports online and donor poachers]()
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