Dual channel donors most valuable to non-profits

Online giving is the fastest growing fundraising channel. Data from Convio reveals that median growth in online giving rose 15.8% last year with smaller organizations, those with fewer than 10,000 email addresses, experiencing stronger growth at 26.7%.

New research from Convio and leading humanitarian organization CARE reveals that donors that give both online and offline are the most valuable. The study, "Insights into Integrated Marketing Constituent Behavior", shows that dual channel donors give, on average, $123.29 annually, 46% of greater value than direct mail only donors.

The profile of a dual channel donor also reveals they are married (72%) and 43% of households earn $100,000 or more.

"We've known for quite some time that a multi-channel approach to constituent engagement is key for nonprofits to be successful as the digital realms continues to come of age based on an earlier study we conducted around integrated marketing," said Dennis McCarthy, vice president of consulting for Convio.

"The results from the study we conducted with CARE continue to prove that nonprofits need to adapt the way they engage externally with their supporters, as well as the way they organize their efforts internally. Integration is crucial on both fronts."

The research also revealed that women are more likely to donate online. Fifty-five percent of offline-only donors are men while 56% of online-only donors are women.

For up-to-date trends on fundraising and analysis by leaders in the sector, check out the Blackbaud Index of Charitable Giving and The Blackbaud Index of Online Giving. The Indexes are updated each month and are based on a three-month moving average of year- over-year percent changes in revenue.

Tags: cause marketing, charity, fundraising, integrated marketing, multichannel marketing, non-profit, online donations