Facts, Figures and Fodder: Online Giving

As online donations continue to grow and traditional fundraising, like direct mail, seems increasingly wasteful and environmentally unfriendly -- the emphasis on online giving has improved. There's a lot of food for thought out there right now about online donations, and we have enjoyed seeing a group of insightful studies emerge in the last few weeks. We hope the following articles and studies help you understand the tips, tricks, patterns and potential of engaging your donors in fundraising online. Would you agree that these are the trends you're seeing emerge in your organizations?

• Study Shows First Time Online Givers Often Do Not Return
  The bad news is that a study of 24 nonprofits reveals that most nonprofits are having trouble getting online donors to give more than once. The good news is that the attractive demographics of online donors makes continuing to engage them using social media is definitely worth the effort. 

• Attracting Young Donors 
  Fundraising consultant Derrick Feldmann talks to the Chronicle on Philanthropy about why nonprofits should be aggressively working to involve people in their 20s and 30s and how to best get them onboard. Even if young donors don't have deep pockets, they can be valuable parts of the cause in the longterm. His advice to nonprofits (basically): make it interest-related and substantive, make it a networking opportunity, make it social, and make it easy.
   
• New study on Donation Usability
  In an effort to learn how charities can increase online giving, this study tested 23 nonprofit websites to see how attractive they were to potential online donors. The report highlights both what pieces of information users want to be able to find easily (mission, goals and objectives of the organization being an overwhelming favorite) and how to lose a potential donor. A potentially helpful read for nonprofits who are puzzled over why they aren't seeing much online income.

• Social Media for Social Causes Study: The Results
  Not surprisingly, social media savvy folks are generally younger and less likely to be big dollar donors BUT within the group of 30 and older social media users, there is a huge opportunity for engagement and advocacy through interaction with group social media tools. This interaction, in turn, can lead to donations. 

• Convio Unveils NP Sector's Comprehensive Study of Online Trends
  Convio's extensive study of nonprofits and online marketing shows that online engagement - including giving, advocacy and membership - has grown despite the tough economic times.  The report also helps to set metrics for success, so nonprofits can evaluate how effective their online efforts have been.