Surveys

Falling through the net? Comprehensive survey into charities attitudes towards online giving

Fundraising | Jonathan Waddingham | 4 Feb 2009

With very little data available on how the voluntary sector views internet fundraising, online service Justgiving commissioned an independent consultant to research UK charities' attitudes towards  it. Here Jonathan Waddingham exclusively reveals the results

Online fundraising is a topic at every charity conference I go to. Everyone wants to talk about it, but very few people seem to know how to do it. There is very little research into how the sector as a whole feels about it and without wide-ranging intelligence, how can charities benchmark their performance against others in the sector?

Our independent research, carried out during the summer of 2008, includes responses from 656 charities who use Justgiving, making it the most comprehensive online survey of its kind. The respondents were asked a range of questions about their experience and attitudes towards online fundraising as a whole, with some interesting results. Firstly, we asked how much charities had raised online as opposed to offline to find out if it is a major source of income (figure 1).

The results prove there is clearly huge scope for growth for fundraising online - almost half of respondents said between 0 and 10 per cent of their funds are raised online, but also that there is room for improvement in measuring with 13 per cent of charities admitting they did not know how much of their funds were raised online.

We then asked about charities' expectations of online fundraising - whether it has exceeded, met, or disappointed them over the past 12 to 18 months. We found the results quite incredible (figure 2).

An impressive 65 per cent felt that online fundraising met or exceeded expectations, but it's useful to analyse both successes and disappointments to set future expectations and learn from past experiences.

Have you looked at other charities' case studies? Do you talk to your online supporters to understand them better and find out what they actually expect from you? There are strong arguments for testing different approaches and measuring them - you do it offline, why not online?

For a quarter, the medium had not quite met expectations, so again there's room for improvement. The key question here is: how do you set your expectations? When setting targets for online fundraising in 2009, did you review the total raised in 2008 and look for growth? Did you find out how much money was donated online, then look at frequency and average amounts?

Or, thinking about events and other occasions (giving in celebration or in memory), have you identified the successes, and are you trying to replicate them in other areas?

In depth

To get a sense of prevailing attitudes, we presented a series of statements and asked to what extent charities agreed or disagreed. On a positive note, an encouraging 34 per cent either agreed or strongly agreed that they're recruiting new donors online. This is a huge endorsement of the medium because is that not the ultimate goal? Having said that, only 11 per cent had considered specific development strategies for online donors and just 9 per cent are doing profiling and comparison work between online and offline donors.

The fact is that it's easier, cheaper and more efficient to build relationships with donors online than offline - and there are lots of ways to do it, like email, social networks or forums. You don't need to be an expert to try these things out - the important thing is to get involved. To get an idea of how to do this well, take a look at the online presences of charities like Bullying UK, Dogs Trust and Oxfam.

In terms of planning, the research shows that 64 per cent agree that "online fundraising is ad hoc" and char-ities are more likely not to have an online fundraising plan than to have one (48 per cent versus 25 per cent). Only 18 per cent of respondents said they keep up-to-date with online giving but 79 per cent say they "would like to have the time to investigate more about the internet and fundraising". The barriers to using the internet for fundraising were not a surprise, with the top three answers being ‘resources' (64 per cent) ‘financial' (45 per cent) and ‘staff understanding' (44 per cent).

But is a lack of time or resource a good enough excuse to ignore the successes other charities are having? It's safe to assume that the charities who are making the most of online fundraising are the ones investing in the area with staff time and resource. However, the research also flagged leadership as a possible issue. Directors of fundraising are only marginally more likely than chief executives to understand and be involved in the online fundraising strategy, yet it's an important part of their role. At the other end of the scale, 8 per cent indicate a lack of involvement at a senior level. Perhaps that's another factor inhibiting expansion and further growth?

The fact is that people are spending more time online. There's an opportunity to stay ahead of the curve and innovate in this space and if your charity doesn't do it, another one like yours will. It's also important to appreciate that the web is not solely the realm of the youth - the online audience is actually growing older.

Encouragingly, 41 per cent of charities say they are starting to see a return on internet fundraising and are prepared to invest more, and more than half are excited by the potential of social networking and unleashing their supporters' creativity.

But feelings of untapped potential and excitement are countered by a sense that there's not enough know-how in the sector. Less than half of respondents said they feel confident in their ability to harness online fundraising, and roughly the same amount indicated that their fundraisers lead the organisational use of the internet. If that is the case, do you ask your supporters to help you understand the internet? Or if you have a member of staff who's comfortable and familiar with online fundraising, do you give them the chance to help others?

It seems to me as though online fundraising is something people have been asked to manage without truly understanding the medium or measuring its success in the way they would have done with offline fundraising. There's no good reason why online donors shouldn't have a development plan like their offline counterparts, or that people raising money online shouldn't be thanked appropriately or given the support and advice they need to reach their - and your - goals.

When we asked what people felt about their  charity's use of the internet, only 5 per cent said they felt they were making the most of online fundraising (figure 3).

Providing your supporters with ways of giving and fundraising online is a start, but you need to go further. To truly make the most of the medium, you need to learn from your past performance and plan for the future; to provide your online donors with a rich and long-term experience; to lavish love and thanks and offers of support on those people who commit to raising money for you online.

Then, and only then, will you be able to build long-term and mutually rewarding relationships with your supporters to make the most of online fundraising.

Jonathan Waddingham is a charity champion at justgiving

Images

Tweet

Directory: JustGiving
Who's Who: Jonathan Waddingham