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Tad has 20 years of communications experience in the nonprofit, corporate and government affairs sectors. An “avid family man,” Tad enjoys time with his wife and son and supporting his daughters' activities (and spending habits) as well as cooking, listening to jazz (one of his favorite outlets is RiverwalkJazz.org) and training for sprint-triathlons. An Academic All-American baseball player who struggled on defense in college, Tad was known as the “Army outfielder – it wasn’t a job it was an adventure.” |
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“I just don’t get that generation.”
Being a father of high school and college age daughters, I say "I just don't get it" quite often. I admit that I also question some of the things my parents say and do – I thought I raised them better. :-) The generations are different... Today, Jordan Viator, our super communications manager for all things interactive, fun and digital was featured in The New York Times about using Foursquare to broadcast to her friends where she is during SXSW Interactive. I personally don’t get it. Why would you do that? I know she says that about a lot of things I do, as her generation has many questions for us "older folks" and they are not afraid to ask. Of course, I probably wondered why anyone would use Facebook and Twitter at some point and now I use them regularly. The reality is there are generational differences in the way we engage and the way we live our lives. (I’ve put a lot of "duh moments" into these posts lately.) To efficiently and effectively manage my life – family, work and beyond, I need to understand the generational differences of the people I interact with. It’s no different with fundraising.
While much has been written about the differences between the generations, there has yet to be an in-depth study on the charitable giving habits, preferences and differences for Gen Y, Gen X, Boomers and Matures. Until now. Working with our friends at Sea Change Strategies and Edge Research announced the results of a first-of-its-kind national research study into the charitable giving behaviors and attitudes across Gen Y, Gen X, Boomers and Matures. This is the same team that brought you the "Wired Wealthy." Some of the key findings will change the way nonprofit’s approach the art and science of fundraising. The full report is available at: www.convio.com/nextgen In the coming weeks we’ll be posting more information and hosting webinars, but for now, I wanted to introduce the research to you. In this economy we can’t afford to say "I just don’t get it" when it comes to engagement with donors and prospects. We can't let the shifting demographics and ways in which people use technology get too far ahead of us - leaving our mission behind. Like the "Wired Wealthy," this is a must read for the modern fundraising professional. We already pulled some of the data for a feature research package on mobile giving, particularly related to the response to the earthquake in Haiti. There is more to come. (I have to admit the irony of seeing Jordan, the digital-force for our social media, blog and online efforts in print today, made me smile.) Mobile donations and dating – The world has changed As I look back at my communication’s and development career technology has changed the way I work - I remember the days when we had a major product launch and had teams of people in New York and Washington D.C. the morning of the announcement to "run" the press releases to the key media outlets/reporters. Technology has changed all that. I can hit the send button and send the press release to everyone who wants it at the same time. My mobile phone’s GPS has also changed getting me to the right place mostly on time. Because of technology reporters are no longer confined to the publisher’s building – my last press tour took me to the homes of reporters in three small towns for kitchen table product demos. (With virtual meeting tools and video conferencing, we’re even doing less of that.) As an event fundraiser, I remember fighting for walkie-talkies during fundraising events, just to stay in touch with my co-workers and volunteers. Do you remember how hard it was to get in touch with a key volunteer once they headed home for the evening... (Man I’m old – two miles up hill, both ways through the snow kind of old.) Of all the communication technology the mobile phone is probably as disruptive as any... I noticed last night how it has changed dating for my teenage daughter. As a father, I like the fact that when my daughter and her boyfriend are sitting together on the couch they continue to text friends, while they talk with each other and watch TV – I encourage the keeping of hands on mobile devices at all times. Had W. Bruce Cameron'sbook "8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter" been written today, we’d add a chapter about the benefits of boyfriends who continue to text friends while on dates with one’s daughter. That’s probably a better story for a post on fatherhood though. But I digress... The most recent development with mobile technology is that of a giving platform. In the aftermath of the Haitian earthquake close to $50 million was given through this channel. Although gift amounts were limited to $5 to $10 dollars an estimated 6.5 million people used their cell phone to donate. This was unprecedented level of giving through this channel and might mark the tipping point for greater adoption.
We teamed with Edge Research andSea Change Strategies on a national survey of US charitable donors conducted one week after the earthquake in Haiti, and during intense fundraising efforts for emergency relief – this is part of a broader study that will be released in the coming days on the contrasting charitable habits of Gen Y, Gen X, Baby Boomers and Matures to provide the nonprofit sector with insights on cultivating the next generation of American donors.(This is the same team that gave us the ground-breaking research on the "Wired Wealthy.")
Here are some of the key findings.
You can download the full study at: www.convio.com/mobile2010 When you look at this data, the results Convio’s clients are having online with fundraising, advocacy and other forms of engagement, the segmentation and donor relations pathways that are now available through open database systems like Convio Common Ground, all tied to modern technology it is an exciting time to be part of this sector. While the economy is having a negative impact, it is also driving innovation as people look for more efficient and effective ways to operate their organizations, to reach and cultivate donors and spread the word about their causes. The only certainty we face is change and those that embrace change will be best positioned for the future. We must adapt to change, to data intensive applications and new technologies that push us in new directions and beyond our comfort zone. Now, its' time to send an "REI" text to my daughter as she’s upstairs watching TV with her boyfriend. What does REI stand for? It’s dad for "response expected immediately." Much like mobile fundraising – donation expected immediately...oh how the world has changed. It’s coming – Black Thursday – Tax Deadline Drives Donation Activity on December 31 – are you ready? Back in February there was a great deal of discussion and debate on the role of tax-deductions in charitable giving around proposed changes in the tax code. Some argued that giving is primarily altruistic and tax breaks play only a small role in the decision to give. Others argued it is very important and billions of dollars could be at risk if the government placed a limit on charitable giving deductions. Both the The Chronicle of Philanthropy and The NonProfit Times covered the story. Today, Stephanie Strom, Philanthropy reporter for The New York Times did a nice article around data from the Convio system that shows, at least behaviorally, the year-end tax deadline makes a big difference in online giving volume and revenue. While the truth is probably somewhere in the middle, what is clear is that donor behavior in the last week of the year, particularly on the last day of the year, seems to suggest that getting that last gift in under the tax deadline is extremely important. We looked back at online giving trends in the last week of the year, compared to the rest of the year and found that on 12/31 there was more than 13 times the number of donations and more than 22 times more funds raised than daily averages the rest of the year. Here is some other interesting data that seems to confirm, at least behaviorally, that altruism and the tax-deduction go hand in hand (or hand in wallet).
Bottom line is that the last week of the year and in particular the last day of the year is huge for online fundraising. About 90% of organizations take some advantage of this phenomenon with the top third of organizations raising 10x or more in the final week when compared to an average week. Dave Hart, our CTO offered me these observations about the data: The 10x lift would be a good target for an end of year fundraising campaign (a solid B grade), and an organization should not stop fundraising until the very end of the year. An A grade for an end of year campaign would be 15x the normal weekly volume raised in the final week of the year. This type of data is one of the many benefits of providing our nonprofit clients software and service through the SaaS model. It also can help provide insight into what your organization can and should be doing in the last week of the year. It also shows the need to have a donor database that allows you to segment based on the date of the gift, so that you can communicate, making sure you are top of mind on the last day. It’s not too late – here are some tips from some of our experts that can help you make the most of the last week. One final thought and question. I worked at an organization that was very active in water conservation. One of our experts would always, and I mean always, get upset if people conserved water “for the wrong reasons.” We had some deep and interesting discussions about that. My guess is that most people donate to your organization for more altruistic reasons over “just” the tax-deduction, but at the end of the day, does it matter if they give only for the deduction?
Research shows online consumer in the giving spirit Posted by at Dec 01, 2009 05:40 AM CST
Categories: Constituent Empowerment, Content Management, Email Marketing, Fundraising, Nonprofit Trends, Research, Usability Despite the difficult economy, American consumers will be going online in record numbers to support charitable causes in the final four weeks of the year – giving an estimated $4B online. This according to The North American Technographics® Omnibus Online Survey, Q4 2009 (US), a commissioned omnibus survey conducted by Forrester’s Technographics® on behalf of Convio. More than 63% of online consumers plan to use the Internet to donate to charities of their choice during the upcoming holiday season, up from 51% in 2008 – when you look at the amount they plan to give it looks like organizations ready to engage online could see a more prosperous holiday season than those late to the online game. In the tough economy that might not make up for the revenue that some organizations have lost, but it is a significant shift in the giving habits of the US consumer. There is a bunch of data, but here are a few things that jumped out at me:
Two other salient points that I took from the data show good news and bad news, depending on one’s perspective:
Hopefully you are executing a well thought-out and designed year-end campaign and are ready to engage these consumers as donors. If you are great. But if not, our experts in our services and support functions took the key findings from the survey and created a last minute guide to help organizations be more successful in the last four weeks of the year. You can download the entire guide, but here is my summary of the information – really download the guide. Four tips to help succeed in the last four weeks of the year:
With consumer dollars being tight and the competition for donations growing, online marketing and fundraising continues to grow in importance for donors and organizations alike. It is clear that online giving has joined traditional channels as mission-critical part of the giving mix and successful organizations are investing accordingly in their online relationships. Don’t get tied around the $4B estimate, rather look at the millions of people that are available to engage and build relationships with this holiday season. Use this season as an opportunity to engage with them’ to cultivate a relationship; and create a sustained relationship that yields returns for many years. Tis the Season for Creativity in Holiday/Year-end Giving – Share your gift opportunity here With the Holiday Giving season ramping and the recession having a negative impact on donations, charities are expanding their eCommerce offerings to better meet consumer’s needs. We are finalizing research into the holiday giving plans of consumers, but preliminary data show that 61% of online consumers plan to give online this year, up from 51% last year – that’s more than 106 million Americans giving online in the last 4 weeks of the year. Nearly 21% have not yet decided how much to give and to what charity. According to the National Retail Federation U.S. consumers plan to spend an average of $682.74 on holiday-related shopping, a 3.2 percent drop from 2008. According to research in by the Chronicle of Philanthropy the top 400 charities expect 2009 giving to be down by as much as 9%. While there is no doubt that this is not good news, the data does shed light on opportunity. I KNOW that I have left off some examples of how our clients are using eCommerce and other Convio products to bring gift giving and giving together this year, so I ask you to share your opportunity here – let’s create a clearing house for online gifts that make a difference this holiday season. Let’s help make the year-end giving season come alive for your friends, family and the nonprofits that make a difference. |
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