In the recent Chronicle of Philanthropy (Dated November 15) a study has shown that Americans who give to charity online are giving roughly the same amount as the traditional check-writers that offline agencies have relied upon for years.

In my many years of experience the online acquired donor has always donated more, and donated more frequently, so this study has definitely raised my eyebrows a bit - and definitely will have me testing and looking at my data much more closely. Of 1,500 respondents (a rather small sample size since many major and medium sized organizations have list sizes many times that size) 65% said they have made an online donation in the past year - with a median gift size of $50. This study has shown that many organizations still rely heavily on the lower than average first gift, and must plan a different upgrading strategy in order to maintain donor loyalty and get a higher second gift.

The study in the Chronicle does confirm the ‘online donors give more’ theory in a study last year (by Target Analysis Group in Boston) that online donors gave a larger median gift, and gave more over time.

It’s interesting to note that this study indicates that many of these gifts are in response to annual fund activity, or direct mail campaign - and that they tend to give through multiple channels (offline and online.) Also worthy of note (and something that I can testify to first-hand, is that 23% of the most recent charitable gifts went to religious organizations - so many non profits reading this and the Chronicle article should be signing up for ministry newsletters to see how it’s done…)

And with year end giving here - hope you have your emails planned - 24% of the donations were made between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day (one organization I have done work with in the past makes the most non-disaster related donations on New Years Eve!!)

What does all this mean? And what else does this article tell us that seasoned e-marketers and fundraisers already know? 64% of the respondents said the speed and convenience of the internet was the reason donations were made online/electronically. Another 20% said the donation was in direct connection with something the organization did - like sending an email appeal, or creating a special campaign site or appeal promotion on the organization’s homepage.

And the final thing to make you think about….gosh this was an affirming article/survey… 28% of donors who made only offline gifts said they did not donate online because they could NOT FIND a giving site - or that they DID NOT KNOW they could donate online.

I hope you are taking a really good look at your homepage right now to make sure that you have a very strong conversion element - if you are asking for a donation, or selling a product (Christmas presents!!)

Tomorrow, I will be posting about how you should think through your email appeal for the year end. It’s doesn’t just start and end with pressing the ’send’ button just once. For every email you send, there are FIVE opportunities to increase your response rates.

Filed under: Agency, Analytics, Email Marketing, Non-Profits on Wednesday, November 14th, 2007 by Serengeti Communications |
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