Taking It to the Streets

Old-school canvassing brings new donors to charities

Janet S. Domenitz doesn't rely much on direct mail, telemarketing, or e-mail to recruit new donors. Instead, the executive director of the Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group, in Boston, depends on an old-school, low-tech method to attract donations to her organization: canvassing.

For more than 25 years, teams from the public-interest advocacy organization have gone door-to-door in neighborhoods statewide, raising