University fundraising moves into cyberspace
Campus launches ‘givetocal.berkeley.edu,’ an expanded e-giving gateway

By Jose Rodriguez
Development Communications

02 March 2001 | With the flick of a switch in February, Berkeley unveiled the most ambitious online, fundraising site in U.S. higher education.

Under the banner of “givetocal.berkeley.edu,” the site allows anyone in the world with a Web browser to make gifts to more than 100 units and nearly 300 funds on campus. These range from the AIDS Memorial Fund to the Young Musicians Program.

Unlike e-giving options at other universities, which emphasize general campuswide giving or annual funds, e-giving at Berkeley focuses on specific program funds. Major units selected their own top funding priorities for inclusion in the site.

The new gateway is unparalleled in its scope and reflects the breadth and range of the Berkeley campus, with each major school, college, department and unit represented.

The project is a marriage of technology and fundraising savvy. Two campus units — University Relations and Information Systems & Technology — worked together to develop and post the secure application, which IS&T continues to support. Development Communications in University Relations is responsible for generating, maintaining and updating the gateway’s contents.

Campus departments have reason to celebrate the launch of the new e-giving gateway. A bare-bones version of the site debuted in a first phase in May 2000, with surprising results: the campus collected more than $125,000 online between May 2000 and January 2001, with $56,000 raised in December alone.

The amount was raised with virtually no promotion, and full-fledged marketing of the new site promises a generous yield.

“Donors and potential donors are hungry for this kind of access and want to support Cal in an easy and safe way,” said Mary Keegan, director of development communications. “The site is designed for ease of use, and donors can access it either through the main gateway at givetocal.berkeley.edu or through the unit home pages.”

Donors can review thumbnail descriptions of the fund options available and then use a secure e-giving form, which encrypts confidential data to make their gifts. The online giving form uses a VeriSign Secure Socket Layer, and both the form and database are secured behind a firewall in the IST Data Center.

Kelly Haberer, who helped form the e-giving team in IS&T, said the project provided “a wonderful opportunity to partner on one of the first e-Berkeley projects, and in the process, define and deliver components of our e-architecture for future campus use.”

Visit http://www.urel.berkeley.edu/e-giving for information on the e-giving gateway. Housed on this site are frequently asked questions about e-giving, as well as information on how to be added to the gateway.

The gateway itself is at http://givetocal.berkeley.edu.