The New Year has officially begun, and it’s the perfect time to reflect on the year past, or for most people, look forward to see what resolutions and initiatives can be planned to make the new 2010 better than 2009. Personally, I’m already a week into my New Year diet and exercise regimen, but for nonprofit organizations, resolutions can be used to revitalize a number of initiatives around organization efficiency, relationships with donors and new goals to make a number of areas of better for both the nonprofit and its constituents.

After spending the last few months collaborating and discussing these issues with nonprofit professionals, industry experts and Convio partners, tons of feedback was recorded on what’s most important to nonprofit organizations – especially after a year like 2009 - and how organizations can do simple things themselves in the New Year to make 2010 initiatives more successful than ever.

According to community discussions and feedback, more than ever organizations see their online initiatives and integration with their traditional channels as a mission-critical function for reasons including:

• Prospects and donors say email from the organization has the same level of influence as direct mail on a person’s decision to give.
• Nearly half of online consumers and more than half of the “wired wealthy” visit a charity’s website before making a donation, regardless of whether they donate online or through traditional channels. 
• Yet, more than half of these prospects and donors do not believe nonprofit websites are providing the information they need to make a gift.
• While most online consumers and the wired wealthy now say they prefer to give online, they are multichannel donors – 61 percent of online consumers report writing and mailing a check, 38 percent gave at an event, and 16 percent responded to a phone call.
• The lifetime value of a donor who engages with a charity through online and offline channels is three times more than that of those who engage offline or online only.

And, based on your feedback, the top five areas of focus for nonprofit resolutions in 2010 are:

1. Reconnect with donors by giving new options of engagement 
2. Increase fundraising for participant-led events 
3. Use social media to reach the next generation of supporters 
4. Improve multichannel engagement/integration
5. Evaluate your website’s effectiveness

The Resolutions Guide delves into each of the above resolutions, providing do-it-yourself tips to help ensure the resolutions can be attainted and sustained, including success stories from peers and resolutions made by community leaders such as NTEN, AFP and many more.

And what about you – do you see your organization’s resolutions listed above or do you have another New Year focus area we should add to the list? Share any feedback you can with the community to make sure we all help each other stay committed, focused and successful in 2010.

Happy New Year!