Good news on the fundraising forefront – donations are up. Interesting development though, considering donors are said to be “fatigued.” Not only that, but it looks like more donations are received via Internet, rather than through direct mail. 

That’s right. It looks like more donations are filtering in via the Internet, rather than its normally traditional method – via direct mail. According to a report by Target Analysis Group, more donors selected this medium, as postal delivery becomes more “expensive or problematic,” the report states. 

The report also states fundraising among all nonprofit sectors took a hike. Donor revenue increased 7.9 percent through the first three quarters of 2005. Even the number of donors was up 2.5 percent, while the number of new donors grew by 4.7 percent, the report reveals. 

About 27 million donors showed their philanthropic side, giving more than 43 million gifts totaling $1.2 billion. The sector that got the most bite? The report states that animal welfare organizations saw a median revenue increase of 47.3 percent in the first three quarters of 2005. This is the only sector that received substantial amounts of Gulf Coast hurricane-related giving. 

Still, fundraisers fear that increased donations for the Asian tsunami and Hurricane Katrina efforts might affect donations to other traditional relief organizations or charities – a situation known as “donor fatigue.” Donations to international relief efforts after the Asian tsunami skyrocketed with a 100 percent increase during that time. But the report suggests that these worries aren’t warranted, since results for donations to all sectors were strong and stable.