The NonProfit Times - March 1, 2008 - (Page 17)

SPECIAL REPORT MAIL DROVE DONORS TO GIVE ONLINE EXCLUSIVE NPT RESEARCH 19% OF NATIONAL SURVEY SAID THEY GAVE ONLINE DURING THE HOLIDAYS D onors logged on to their computers to give online during the holidays and, for the most part, they were driven there by direct mail from the charities they eventually supported. That is, the majority of those who remembered what drove them to give got there from a direct mail solicitation. BY PAUL CLOLERY According to a national survey conducted for The NonProfit Times by HarrisInteractive, 19% of people contacted said that they gave online during the 60 days prior to January 23 and 24.That period would include most of the holiday giving season.While giving online is still just 2% to 4% of all giving, the holidays are a traditional period when online traffic spikes. The challenge for fundraisers is that 46 percent of those who said they gave online either did not remember how they were driven to give or got there without the aid of the traditional direct mail, telephone, search engines, online solicitations, special events, print ads or television spots. While direct mail response has historically skewed female, that has begun to even out during the past few years. Of donors who said they had given online, it was 20% of male respondents versus 18% of females who answered. Of those who said they were driven to give online, 21% were male and 13% were female. “Women were still responsive to direct mail here (13% vs. 21% for men), though not as much as men. More women responded that they used a search engine or Web site (15% as compared to 9% of men) suggesting that perhaps they had an organization in mind that they wanted to donate to (or the kind of an organization they were interested in supporting),”said Michele Salomon at HarrisInteractive. According to Michael Johnston, president of HJC New Media in Toronto, online has been skewing more male. “We find online donors have a slightly higher representation of men than in traditional direct mail donor files. However, for animal welfare organizations the skew is approximately 80/20 to women online. Health-related charities have a 70/30 skew to women and overseas development in 60/40 to women online,” he said. Who handles what in the household also might have had an impact on responses.“Personally I think it is because people are changing who takes care of the books at home and this, like other household tasks, are more evenly split,” said Diana Estremera, senior vice president, May Development Services in Greenwich, Conn. HarrisInteractive obtained responses from a nationally-projectable sample of 1,008 households.After determining if a gift had been made online, the person was asked what fundraising mechanism drove them to the charities’Web Special Report, page 18 MARCH 1, 2008 THE NONPROFIT TIMES www.nptimes.com 17 http://www.nptimes.com

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The NonProfit Times - March 1, 2008 Fuel Costs Eating Up Food Banks California Legislation Pushing Foundation Funding Diversity Estate Tax Won't Die Contents Who...When...Where...How...What? Red Cross Cuts Jobs, Regional Support In $200 Million Deficit General Ramblings: What the....? Briefs Taxing Issues: New for 2008 Foundations: Rebooting At Gates Mail Drove Donors to Give Online Streetsmart Nonprofit Manager: The Power of the Founder Software: Technology Innovation Calendar Fundraising Guide NPT Jobs Resource Directory AFP International Conference Insert

The NonProfit Times - March 1, 2008

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