As a twist on our 2018 quarterly giving reports where we compared online giving trends on the 4aGoodCause platform each quarter, this month we’re taking a look at the first half of 2019 to bring you a snapshot of our online donation and fundraising pages to help you understand online donor trends—the who, where and why.
As you review the information, think about how these giving trends may impact the success of your fundraising program for the remainder of the year. You may see similar patterns with your donors.
Online giving trends, first half of 2019
The online giving stats below were taken during January 1 – June 30, 2019. During this period of time, our donation and registration pages have seen a total of $7,943,441.95 raised. In total, between online donations, membership orders and event registrations, we are up from the first half of 2018 by about $1.3 million!
As we’ve seen in previous years, 4aGoodCause’s clients far exceed nonprofit benchmarks for average online donation size. As a comparison:
- 4aGoodCause clients’ average online one-time donation: $227.69 (as compared to the M+R benchmark of $106)
- 4aGoodCause clients’ average online recurring donation: $54.19 (as compared to the M+R benchmark of $23)
When do donors give?
We are still seeing mid-week as the most popular time to give (for our clients, this happens to be Wednesdays at 1 PM). Midweek days are always very close—is your communication set to hit your donors during these peak times?
Who is doing the giving?
Consistently, women tend to give at a higher percentage than their male counterparts (63% vs. 37%) and the top age range for those that open up their wallets online are 25 – 44 year-olds. This may surprise some as the 25 – 34-year-old age group is giving at the same consistency (23% of donors) as the 35 – 44 year-olds. Are you adequate in your outreach to Millennials? They have the drive to give.
What does social media have to do with it?
While we haven’t seen a significant change in social media as a referral source to donation pages (still 21% of traffic) we have noticed a shift in the channels that are generating donations in 2019. Most significant? Instagram.
When compared to 2018, Instagram has now jumped up by 10% and is the #2 social media source of traffic/channel supporting online donations. And, as a first-time debut, LinkedIn makes the list. We suspect that more nonprofit organizations are using strategic calls to actions on these channels.
What do these numbers mean for you?
Summer is a great time to take a look at the success of your giving program. As the midpoint in the year, it gives us time to reflect on what’s working, what’s not working and use those key findings to pivot in our giving programs. The trends above can act as a launching point as you think about additional strategies behind your 2019 fundraising objectives.
So, what can you do to increase online giving this year? Make the rest of the year a success by hitting your goals. Here are some suggestions for your mid-year check:
- Assess your donation landing pages. Are they responsive? Have you been clear on your calls to action and identified the why for giving? We have ideas for great CTAs on your donation pages.
- Monitoring your email send times and open rates. Writer’s block? Here are some tips to consider for your next batch of donor emails.
- Evaluate the success of your social media posts. Which channels are the top referrers of traffic to your organization’s website or donation landing pages? What types of content does your audience engage with most (and on which channels?)
- Review your donor demographics. Where have you seen the most donations come from so far this year? Which audiences could you target for the remainder of the year? Are you struggling to reach a certain generation? Consider how each of them receives information and concentrates on the channel that is most impactful for them.
How can we help?
This year at 4aGoodCause, our goal is to raise $20 milion for charities across the country via our donation platform. We would love to be a part of your efforts to increases donations for your nonprofit organization. Let us know what challenges you’re looking to solve; we’d be happy to offer a free demo and be a part of making a difference in your world.
