Based on research conducted for them by Forrester Research, Convio estimates that online giving to nonprofits in the US will top $4 billion this holiday season (Nov 1-Dec 31 — up from $3.1 billion in 2008).
The Convio study is full of other tidbits on how donors are using internet-based tools and resources to assist their giving.
Some items that caught my attention (all figures are US) …
- More than 63% of online consumers (111 million people) plan to use the Internet to donate to charities of their choice during the upcoming holiday season, up from 51% in 2008.
- Nearly 6 out of 10 people surveyed plan to give the same amount or more, while the current state of the economy will lead 23% to give less to charity this holiday season. A full 20% are still undecided about the size of their gifts.
- For nearly 25% of the respondents, what family and friends say on social media and in personal emails influences the charities they support;
- In addition to their online giving, today’s online consumer gives through a multitude of channels as 61 percent report mailing a check (most, after checking the website), 38 percent gave at an event, 17 percent used the Internet to sponsor a friend or family member in a run, walk or ride, while 16 percent responded to a phone call — all in addition to their personal online giving.
I was also struck by the finding that while 65% of the survey respondents have delayed spending on non-essential consumer products this season, their support for charities remains high.
This is a little more bullish than other data I’ve seen re consumer online spending. For example, here from CommScore is data indicating online consumer spending is up only 4% over the same holiday period last year (i.e., from Nov 1 to early Dec).
It just seems a bit unlikely that the dollar amount of online giving would grow at a substantially faster pace than total consumer online spending. When those who actually give the same amount or less are balanced against those who give more, we might see the same dollar volume of online giving in 2009 as last year, even assuming the number of online donors increases. We shall see!
In any event, taking the dollar projections as you wish, the Convio study is a valuable resource because it looks at donors’ online proclivities in some depth. Take a look!
Tom
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This goes to show you that even during a recession you can raise funds. People give to that which matters to them. When spending on pets is projected to increase this year why should giving to charities not also? It is up to us to make our case with clarity, conciseness and most of all compelling.
Thanks for commenting on the survey. I agree with your point about the total giving estimate – it is just that and while it can be supported by data it can and probably will be argued. What is more important to your readers is what the consumer is telling us:
– The nonprofit website is important – it has the most influence on their giving regardless of how they give (online or offline)
- While nonprofits are making it easy to donate (according to 55%), more than half say it is hard to find information needed to make the donation decision – ask yourself, does our website have the information we want it to have or the information our prospects donors want/need? That is not always the same information.
- Since these people give through numerous channels and are influenced through various channels how well are you integrating efforts online and offline?
Email and direct mail have the same level of influence according to respondents. One of our clients jumped on this as he told me that every piece of direct mail is reviewed numerous times, byt numerous people, but emails ussually only get looked at by the writer and “spell check.”
Given the proclivities the survey should at least cause people to look at the resources they use, the prospects needs and make sure they are aligned and resources properly.
Stay tuned, as we have some more insight on people who are brand loyal versus price loyal – just got the data, so need to evaluate.
Congratulations on maintaining a blog with solid, meaningful information. I write for a company that builds branded communities for a lot of progressive nonnprofits. As implied by some of the data here, one of the biggest trends we see in nonprofit fundraising is the merging of onlline and offlline events. People are gathering in online communities, signing up to participate, then supporting offline fundraisers with time and treasure. It’s good to see.