In the Spring 2012 edition of Austin’s Giving City Magazine, Monica Williams interviews local “apptivists” performs an “online giving gut check” -  Asking a curious question:  Do all these cool apps really work?

Further, if apps and online giving platforms are going to make a dent in nonprofit fundraising, it’s clear that the developers need the nonprofits to adopt these tools— and nonprofits need developers to create them. So how can we help get these partnerships moving along?

Affinity IG Co-Founder and CEO, Mark Courtney, speaks to the trends in online giving platform arena based on extensive research and expertise in the field.

“The numbers around social fundraising are so small. Even with a platform as powerful as Facebook, it still hasn’t made a huge dent in helping nonprofits gain a tremendous amount of fundraising. But that makes sense. Just because I care about it and I want you to give to something I care about, doesn’t mean it’s what you care about.  The opportunity for long-term engagement has been left behind with apps because the relationship becomes highly transactional.  The experience of giving has been lost in this online space. DonorsChoose.org is a good example of an online giving platform. The tangibility is by far the best aspect of the organization. They’re not only creating a platform, they’re creating a service, and that opens a connection.

The marketing and development teams inside a nonprofit are going to have to start to really collaborate and decide which is going to focus on the online donor population. If it is owned by both groups, then you have to set goals for each space, and that incents the team to get aggressive about the tools they use, because right now there’s no incentive inside the organization to pick up one of them. You have to start somewhere. There’s no excuse not to. Look at how much time you spend online. It’s obvious that there are lots of people there, too, and you need to meet people where they are.

And that means being creative in how you approach them long term. Are you spending time really thinking about where your target audience is and which is the best tools? Can you create a strategy that’s consistent and fosters a one-to-one relationship that’s sincere? You have to stay with it long term just like you did with your email lists.

People online are more savvy than you can imagine. You have to be careful of how you use tools because more people are saying, “My dollars’ worth more than that.”