Americans were quick to react to the Haiti disaster last month, donating millions of dollars in a matter of hours. A driving factor in the lightning-fast fundraising was the ease of donating through the Web and mobile devices.

The results were so impressive – the American Red Cross raised more than $32 million alone through its mobile text-to-give effort – that Cone wanted to explore how, and why, many Americans engaged in text-to-donate campaigns. We fielded a brief, two-question online survey with Invoke Solutions to explore the trend, and the results revealed 13 percent of respondents donated via text message following the earthquake. Although this number may seem low given the massive support for relief organizations, it represents well over a 100 percent jump from Cone’s 2009 Consumer New Media Study conducted just last fall. In that survey, six percent of American adults said they had donated to any cause via mobile phone over a 12-month period.

Most of the 13 percent who texted a donation to Haiti indicated they did so because it was the fastest and easiest way to respond to the urgent need (8%). But the survey also indicated that the success of text-to-give efforts for Haiti may be more than just a flash in the pan. Nearly a quarter of respondents (23%) said if they donate once through a text message, they are more likely to donate again.

Mobile donations are clearly building traction with American donors, but what does this mean for future fundraising efforts? Nonprofits looking to engage supporters through this channel should note the other survey findings:

• 27% of Americans are more likely to donate via text message if there is a credible endorser (person, company, nonprofit)
  
• 27% would be more likely to text a donation if a company/organization “matched” their gift
  
• 22% would use text messaging to donate to causes only when there is an urgent need
  
• 19% would rather text a donation to a cause or nonprofit organization than through other means (e.g., write a check or donate online)
  
• 18% are now more likely to text a donation to their favorite nonprofit organization if it is an available option

We may have reached the tipping point for mobile donations after the earthquake in Haiti. It will be interesting to watch if and how nonprofits adapt this technology to their own causes through urgent, yet strategic appeals.

About the 2010 Cone Text-to-Give Trend Tracker:
The research presents the findings of an online survey conducted in February 2010 by Invoke Solutions among a demographically representative U.S. sample of 1,183 adults. The margin of error associated with this sample of this size is ±3%.

Comments

Geoff Garcia

March 1, 2010 4:35 PM Is an online survey overly biased towards technology for such a topic?

Casey Brennan

March 3, 2010 12:44 PM Geoff- You're right, this is a highly discussed research topic right now. The concern with internet surveys is exactly what you noted; but on the other hand, the concern with phone surveys is the opposite- that they will miss the increasing number of households (particularly younger demos) who no longer have landlines and won't be reached through RDD surveys. Because the percent was still fairly small (13%), we don't think a proclivity toward technology played an overly influential role- had it been substantially larger (like 50%), this could be something to consider. There's also evidence of an increased "social desirability" effect with telephone surveys...aka, saying what you think the surveyor wants to hear vs. what you've actually done, which could be particularly important in these surveys we do because we're asking about socially responsible beliefs and behaviors. Fortunately, all of these influences are why we associate a margin of error for the data, and why we ask a large enough sample population of people to minimize that error as best we can. Casey Brennan Insights Associate Cone

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