Against the Digital Divide
Holly Ross, NTEN
[Ed. note: This is Holly's introduction to our August Newsletter. If you aren't subscribed yet, you really should be.]
I recently learned that online fundraising made up only about 5% of total annual giving in 2008. I was floored. I thought it would be 30 to 50 percent. Why? Because I spend all day, every day in front of a laptop tweeting about my Facebook links.
Okay, you can't do that for real, but you get my drift. I live in a bubble -- a tech bubble. The kind of of bubble so cushy, I can check my email in the bathroom if I want. (But I don't, 'cuz that's not cool.) I'm betting many of you live in that same bubble. It's a fine place to be. The problem is, not everyone is in here with us, and many of those people are our clients.
It's hard to imagine why Internet access should matter to a hunger organization or an after-school program, but it does. If your clients can access the Internet on a phone, or at home, you can reach and support them in brand new ways. You can create sites and systems that serve your mission twenty-four hours a day. Those kinds of always-on programs could mean the difference between a hungry night and a restful one. If you're not actively engaged in bringing access to your clients, you're missing a huge opportunity to better serve them.
Of course, digital divide issues are not new: We've been talking about them for over a decade now. But now's the time for our sector to do something about it. Start by learning more about current access issues, then explore some of the other divides, like gender and age. OneWebDay's Nathaniel James offers something concrete you can do about the problem. Finish with a piece by our own Brett Meyer about what "The Digital Divide" really means.
As always, we hope you'll support the work we do by becoming a member.
