A study carried out exclusively for MMC in January and February 2010, by online research company fast.MAP, also reveals that eight out of 10 donors give varying amounts each time and half use a variety of different methods to make their donation.
Seven out of 10 of the 1,090 panel members, whose demographics echo those of the UK, were donors and they went on to explain their giving habits. This figure was down from 74% the previous year – possibly due to recessionary cash shortages.
As has traditionally been the case, the percentage of donors increases steadily with age – from 44% of 18 to 24-year-olds supporting charity to eight out of 10 aged 65 and over. Conversely, the percentage of non-donors falls with age – 56% of 18 to 24-year-olds, falling to two out of 10 aged 65-plus.
Since donor behaviour varies so widely between charities, any charity profiling its own supporters can only uncover a partial picture. Because fast.MAP asked exactly the same questions of an identically constructed panel in February 2009, it is possible to track changes in giving habits over the past year and start to complete that picture.
Predictable giving cycles
Fortunately for fundraisers wishing to identify and tap into predictable giving cycles, 38% (1% less than a year ago) of people donate roughly the same amount each week or month. Six out of 10 of these regular donors are likely to have a household income of more than £70,000 a year, while the remaining four out of 10, spread across all income levels, donate irregularly throughout the year.
No panel members in the £70,000-plus income bracket give donations linked to anniversaries or festivals. Almost two thirds of those people earning £10,000 to £15,000 donate irregularly. While the very poorest adults, those earning under £5,000, are most likely to donate at specific festivals or anniversaries.
‘When more than half of donors are acting unpredictably, it becomes even more important to target fundraising initiatives carefully. It’s not even safe to presume that the average person is motivated to donate on specific religious festivals or personal anniversaries such as the death of a loved one or pet, because fewer than one in 10 people do so,’ explains fast.MAP director Paul Seabrook.
However, if the ‘when’, ‘how’ and ‘to whom’ responses are cross-referenced with the ‘regularity’ responses, the majority – no matter how regular or irregular their donations – do include some specific personal and/or religious anniversaries within their otherwise haphazard giving schedule.
This includes, three quarters (up from 62% last year), of those who give different amounts at different times of year; slightly more than those who give to different charities at different times, 65% (9% more year-on-year) and 46% (down 5% on 2009) of those who give by different methods at different times of year. ‘Sophisticated profiling methods can be used to identify these individuals –fast.MAP uses EuroDirect, Cameo and PersonicX – or an even more simple method is to ask donors themselves,’ advises Seabrook.
Unsurprisingly, people whose donations are irregular are also most likely to give different amounts, 84% (up 6% on last February); by different methods, 51%; and to different types of charity, 72% (both up 4%).
Read the report on charity donor behaviour in full.