Insights
Charity Digital has linked up with Nonprofit Tech for Good to help gather data on global donor habits and how their attitudes to giving have been impacted by COVID-19.
Charities are being urged to help take part in an annual global survey that aims to offer vital information about the latest trends in giving among donors.
Fundraising and social media blog, Nonprofit Tech for Good, is inviting charities to share their 2020 Global Trends in Giving Survey among their donors.
Charities’ social media channels as well as website blogs are among particularly effective ways they can share the survey among donors.
The survey can be found online here through to May 31.
Data gathered from the survey on global giving trends will be released in the Global Trends in Giving Report, on September 14.
Understanding donors
This information will give charities worldwide powerful benchmarks on how to improve their fundraising operations as well as better understand how donors like to give and support good causes.
It will also give an insight into how global giving habits have changed since the COVID-19 outbreak.
Issues the survey covers include the impact of social media on giving, as well as emerging fundraising trends such as the use of voice-activated devices like Amazon Alexa, gaming and cryptocurrency.
The impact of crowdfunding platforms, peer-to-peer fundraising and volunteering are also examined.
Meanwhile, large-scale, organised days of giving, such as #GivingTuesday, is another fundraising issue being looked at.
The survey takes between five and ten minutes to complete and is totally anonymous. No questions are asked that will reveal any personal or identifiable information.
Questions for donors range from asking how often donations are made to a charity in the last 12 months and reasons why.
Information about other forms of contact with charities is also included, such as attending a charity event or volunteering.
Charity Digital is among dozens of partners worldwide that are crowdsourcing the survey to help ensure as many donors and charities as possible take part.
Heather Mansfield, Editor-in-chief for Nonprofit Tech for Good, said: “The survey is anonymous and your participation will help provide charitable giving benchmarks for nonprofits, NGOs, and charities worldwide. Please volunteer 5-10 minutes of your time and take the survey.”
The survey results will be published in English, Arabic, French, Italian, Mandarin. Portuguese and Spanish.
Digital payments
The previous Global Trends in Giving Report was published in 2018. This found that more than half of donors (54 percent) globally prefer to give online with their credit or debit card. PayPal was the preferred method of nine percent of donors worldwide.
Earlier this month Charity Digital reported on how flexibility in online payment methods, particularly by charities offering digital wallet options, can help attract regular donors.
Among European donors responding to the 2018 report, more than two thirds (68 percent) like to be thanked for their donations by email.
Sending timely emails and choosing messaging carefully in such communication is particularly important amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to experts.
Social media
In addition, the 2018 report found a fifth (21 percent) of European donors said they were more likely to donate if they are offered a free gift in exchange for their donation.
Also, around a third (32 percent) of donors in Europe said they were inspired to give by social media content, with Facebook having the largest impact. Most of those (94 percent) who donated through Facebook Fundraising Tools said they would give through the platform again.
Among charities to use social media effectively, amid the COVID-19 pandemic to raise funds, has been Guide Dogs, which staged a world record attempting virtual tea party using Facebook and Twitter last month.
One in ten donors donated to #GivingTuesday, when it took place in 2017, with around a third giving to more than one good cause, according to the 2018 report.
The event is held each winter annually, but year an extra #GivingTuesday day took place on 5 May to help charities tackle a loss in donations and income due to COVID-19 and having to close shops and postpone in-person fundraising.
The 2020 Global Trends in Giving Report is a great opportunity to find out how donor’s attitudes to such global giving events have changed, particularly how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected their support for the voluntary sector.
Charities are being encouraged to participate in the survey and share the link with donors, so the most accurate data can be collected. You can find the link here.
Join us on the 14th of May for our Q&A session. It will provide a whistlestop tour of Microsoft Copilot’s key capabilities, how they can help charities, and answer all your burning questions around Microsoft’s AI service.