Fundraising Free fundraising news via e-mail from UK Fundraising. The earliest public appeals for funds using the Internet were probably those on Usenet newsgroups in 1991 on behalf of charities working with the Kurds following the Gulf War. The appeals were made by individuals, not by charity fundraisers. Early UK pioneers of Internet fundraising added some kind of response device such as an online credit card form or a form for printing out and filling in.
Some charities make only the briefest and simplest of appeals for donations on their Web sites.
Volunteers are also creating their own fundraising appeals online. The Help Sister Althea appeal includes a letter and photos, along the lines of a direct mail appeal. Some charities rely on particular types of donations, such as child sponsorship. The US charity Christian Children's Fund encourages donors to sponsor individual children as part of its fundraising activities. In view of its work with refugees in West Timor, it has transferred this fundraising technique to the Web.