Many nonprofits acquire one-time donors who give at an event or as a result of another effort such as a peer-to-peer fundraising program or direct mail acquisition. A new report provides insights into these donors’ habits and motivations.
The recent online survey of 1,056 social donors was conducted by Edge Research between Oct. 11-22 2018 for mobile fundraising technology firm OneCause. Among its findings, it was revealed that 51% of event and peer-to-peer donors were only slightly familiar or were unfamiliar with the organization they donated to.
The survey also found that social networks were the basis of success for peer-to-peer and event fundraising. Most of the donors surveyed found out about the fundraiser through word-of-mouth, social media, and email.
Most importantly, perhaps, was the number one reason why donors give:
Ease, mission, and impact are top motivators. The number one reason why social donors give is because it is easy to do.
Additionally, Social donors care more about impact than recognition. The biggest factor driving likelihood to convert to a monthly or annual donor is that social donors understand the true impact of their donation – that is a key driver to long-term engagement.
The study confirms that the motivation for one-time donors to give a second gift, and eventually become a long-term donor, is that they don’t just want to be thanked – they want to know the impact that their donation had and the lives they helped change.
In the past, people who gave took it on faith that they were doing good with their donation – but today people want to see, hear, and touch the impact being made by their favorite charity. Consequently, you need to develop meaningful ways to engage your donors.
And more importantly, you need to devise a marketing strategy that draws them more deeply into your charity’s world. This can be done through video clips distributed through social media or email, a personal phone call, or a special invitation to visit the charity and see work in progress. Whatever you choose to do, you’ll want to make them feel part of the charity – not just someone that can provide money, but a true advocate that has the same passion you do.