Online Giving by the Numbers

When nonprofits consider whether or not to accept online contributions, many questions arise:  How much can we raise?  What kind of constituents should we be encouraging to give online?  Is my organization too small to see results? 

In 2007, online contribution processor Network for Good published a study of online giving.  The study looked only at gifts processed over a period from November 2001 through early September 2006 by Network for Good, whose services are used by organizations of all sizes.  We have summarized their findings here.

Who Gives Online?

Online givers are young, with men and women giving almost equally

Average age of a Network for Good donor:                                        40

Percent of female donors:                                                             52%

Online givers are not new to giving, but they may be new to giving online

Percent of online donors having made contributions before              96%

Percent of online donors having given online before                           62%

Illinois ranks 9th in average online gift size and 19th in giving per capita

In the study, New York led the nation in average online gift size at $280, followed by California at $152.  Illinois’ average online gift size was $129.

How Do Donors Give Online?

Online donors are generous

Network for Good reported seeing an average gift size over the five years of $163.  Excluding gifts of $5,000 or more, the average drops to $124.

These average gifts tend to be far higher than offline gifts.  While it can’t be stated equivocally why this is the case, it might be due to one or more factors, including:
Online giving is impulsive by nature
People can find it easier to spend more when paying by credit card versus writing a check
Possibly a wealthier demographic is choosing to give online

Giving follows a classic “long-tailed distribution”

Wired editor Chris Anderson coined the phrase “long tail phenomenon” to describe the way the Internet creates and serves distribution markets.  Network for Good reports that 50% of gifts they process go to 1% of organizations.  The rest is spread out across the “long tail.”  It should be noted that this distribution was observed excluding crisis giving.

Disaster relief is the leading category of giving

Network for Good analyzed giving by sector for organizations that have reported their sector type to the IRS and/or GuideStar.  The top 10 in total dollars received online were:

                        Disaster relief
                        International causes
                        Animal-related
                        Human service
                        Education
                        Health
                        Public, society benefit
                        Agriculture, food, nutrition
                        Arts, culture, humanities
                        Religion, spiritual development

The study notes that there were several disasters during the years included in the study, including Hurricane Katrina.  When organizations that describe themselves as relief organizations are omitted, the leading sectors are animal, health, education and disease (health).  As many animal and health organizations also provided disaster relief during and after Katrina and other disasters, it is likely that a good amount of volume in these sectors is also disaster-related.

Online gifts are fairly evenly divided by organization size

The study found that half of the contributions made went to small-to-medium-sized organizations and half to medium-to-large organizations. 

At times of disaster, donors are led to large organizations such as the Red Cross.  With disaster organizations omitted from the analysis, small-to-medium organizations receive about 70% of all gifts made.

When do donors give online?

Donors give online in times of disaster and at the end of the year

About 40% of Network for Good giving was received in December, and about 30% was received in response to disasters

People give more on weekdays

Excluding disaster and end of year giving, donors are most generous on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. 

People give during normal business hours

Most gifts were given between 10 AM and 12 PM.  Statistics shows a drop in giving during the lunch hour and slight increases in late afternoon/early evening.

Why donors give

The number one reason provided for giving online is convenience

It’s easier than writing a check and can be done at any time, day or night.

It is clear that people give online because they see it as efficient.  Therefore, it is critical that if you encourage people to make gifts this way, the process must be smooth and easily understood.

We will address this topic in a future article.

In partnership with GuideStar, Network for Good analyzed all gifts processed from November 19, 2001 (when Network for Good began operations) through September 3, 2006.

GuideStar’s database contained information on the programmatic focus of 62% of the organizations supported through Network for Good, and information on the organizational size was available for 80% of these organizations.  The donor-provided profile data (age, gender and giving habits) was available for about 2% of donors.

The complete study can be viewed or downloaded at http://www.networkforgood.org/downloads/pdf/whitepaper/20061009_young_and_generous.pdf