Even in this economy, a survey shows that online giving to nonprofits will rise substantially this year. The North American Technographics® Omnibus Online Survey, Q4 2009, estimates that more than 111 million Americans will give through Web sites, a huge increase from the 89 million who did last year, according to a press release from Convio Inc., which commissioned Forrester’s Technographics® to undertake the survey.
The survey further reveals that a majority — 63 percent — of Americans who buy things via the Web have intentions of using their online connectivity for charitable purposes as well. That’s more than a 10 percent increase, up from 51 percent in 2008. With so many different methods of online giving — from charity gift cards to microloan sites to percentage-of-sales to direct giving — everyone can feel comfortable dipping into the charitable “marketplace.”
Giving remains strong despite the fact that 65 percent of those surveyed said they are putting off nonessential consumer spending this season. Over half of respondents said they plan to give as much as they did last year, and only 23 percent said they will give less. The rest are undecided what they will give, which is good enough news to bring the nonprofit sector a smile; much better to have people deciding what amount to give than deciding whether to give at all.
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