A recent survey of donors by marketing firms Russ Reid and Grey Matter Research & Consulting resulted in numerous insights about how donors think and give.
The survey asked about many aspects of the respondents' giving patterns, including donating in response to the appeal for funds in the wake of the Haiti earthquake earlier this year. For those of us who have been thinking hard about disaster giving recently, these data are helpful in answering the question of who might give in these situations, to what, and by what channels.
Here are the points from the study about giving to Haiti:
- 38% of Americans gave to help Haiti.
- 52% of active donors--those who give to nonprofits regularly--donated.
- Nearly 30% of Haiti donors said they did not support any nonprofits in the last year. This included 16% of what the researchers called "fairly determined non donors."
- Most likely to give to Haiti were African Americans (51%), Latinos (53%), Asians (59%) as were people not born in the US (59%).
- Four out of ten donors said that if they hadn't responded to the Haiti appeal, that money would have gone somewhere else (presumably to another cause).
- 58% of donors said their donation to Haiti was unique. It was over and above what they normally give.
- Haiti was a first-time gift for 3% of all Americans, 6.7 million people.
- 32% of Haiti donors gave to nonprofits working in Haiti through their places of worship; 22% gave online; and 19% gave through texting. Ninety percent of the texting donors said that if texting had not been available they would have donated in some other way.
The researchers noted that emergency donors are different than everyday donors, and that many such donors give above and beyond for disasters, not instead of their usual donations. That is comforting since there has been a general belief on the part of nonprofits that disaster giving detracts from other causes.
It is also clear that people who never give to causes can be persuaded to give during an emergency; and that minorities are heavily involved in emergency giving. It might be wise for a nonprofit involved in disaster fundraising to rewrite its message to appeal to potential donors that may be substantially different than their mainstream donors.
The data also raise the question, but do not offer a definitive answer, "would people who texted their donations give more through other channels?" Do the restrictions on the amount of a donation through texting limit the actual amount of money ultimately raised?
Every disaster is different. We'll be wondering for a long time what differences matter. Why was the response to Haiti so huge and immediate, but in the case of the flooding in Pakistan, giving has been slow and much less? But this study provides some tantalizing clues.
More about the study:
- News release about the study.
- The study: Introducing The Heart of the Donor: Insights into donor motivation and behavior for the 21st century.
- Study Sheds Light on Who Gives and Why Nonprofit Quarterly.
- 'Old" donors give more - so do we stick to the same 'old' fundraising? Katya Andresen
- New Survey Gets to the 'Heart of the Donor' Fundraising Success Magazine
Related:
- Why Aren't We Helping Flood Victims in Pakistan?
- Disaster Philanthropy: Why Are Some Disasters More Appealing than Others?
Photo: Getty Images
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