publication date: Nov 16, 2012
After surveying
more than 4,000 donors in the United States, United Kingdom and Australia,
Blackbaud has found three factors that
would motivate one-time donors to become regular donors. The insights come from
Donor Perspectives: An investigation
into what drives your donors to give, a research summary released in mid-November.
Eighty percent of respondents reported making a one-off donation to at least
one charity in the last year, while roughly two-thirds of respondents from each
country reported making regular or recurring automatic donations.
Respondents that were
prepared to consider becoming regular donors reported that these incentives
would change their behaviour:
- an improvement in their personal financial
situation,
- a passion for an organization's mission, and
- access to information that proved the impact
of their contributions.
Many respondents
(20% to 30%) said they had stopped giving regularly to an organization in the
past three years because of their financial situation and a lack of
transparency on the charity's part.
"While personal
finances greatly contribute to donor decisions about regular donations,
charities can take steps to retain and attract these valuable donors," said Blackbaud's
strategy VP Dennis McCarthy. "By
tracking the impact of contributions and communicating that back to donors,
nonprofits can increase the number of regular donors and ensure they are not
losing the donors they have."
On average, in all
three countries, as the number of charities to which donors made regular
donations increased, so did the total amount of financial contributions.
