Online Donors Give 'To People They Know'
1 September 2004 at 1:09 pm
A new US survey of online donors has found a massive 87% of people are motivated to give when someone they know asks them to contribute.
When U.S. consumers were recently surveyed about their online giving habits, most said that they are more likely to make a donation if asked by a friend or family member.
The results of the online survey, which are included in the Kintera/Luth Nonprofit Trend Report, shows that familiarity with the soliciting party plays a significant role in decisions regarding financial donations.
Some 87.4% of all individuals polled for the survey ranked “personal request from a friend or family” in the top three motivators for giving. More than half of the respondents indicated that “personal request from a friend or family”(58.4%) is the most motivating factor for making a financial donation, followed by “message via broadcast media” (12.7%) and “mail solicitation”(9.8%).
The Kintera/Luth Nonprofit Trend Report is a unique research partnership between Kintera Inc., a leading US technology provider for Not for Profit organisations, and Luth Research Inc., a veteran online market research firm.
Dr. Ephraim Feig, the chief technology officer and chief marketing officer of Kintera says organisations ranging from charities to religious groups are finding that friends and family members of their supporters are more likely to give when asked by someone they know.
Feig says a sensible tactic, then, is to increase the number of personal solicitations. Over and over we see that supporters are more likely to ask, and to ask more frequently, via the Internet than in person. The Internet has the salutary effect of lowering people’s innate inhibitions to ask.
Roseanne Luth, the president and CEO of Luth Research says the Internet has ushered in a new wave of philanthropy in which friends and family can communicate instantly about issues and causes in which they are passionate.
She says this emotional connection has had an overwhelmingly positive effect on the amount of donations NFP’s are able to generate.
If you would like a copy of the report findings in PDF format just send us an email with the words Kintera-Luth Report in the subject line to probono@probonoaustralia.com.au.
