Americans gave over $3 billion online in 2004, say Kintera
Howard Lake | 20 June 2005 | News
Online donations in the U.S. in 2004 exceeded $3 billion, up by 58% from $1.9bn in 2003, according to a recent study by technology provider Kintera, Inc. and online market research firm Luth Research Inc.
The 2005 Kintera/Luth Nonprofit Trend Report is the second detailed report about the online donation habits of the U.S. population.
The survey results indicate that more than 8.6 million U.S. households gave online donations in 2004. Results also show that more than 65% of all donors visit at least one of the websites of the nonprofit organisations or fundraising events to which they give.
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The survey also found that:
- on average, online givers give in total (both online and offline) more than 50% more than those donors who do not give online.
- more than 12% of all households giving in 2004 made some online donations.
- more than 75% of donors who go online before making a donation noted that going online made some impact on their decision whether or not to give, and more than 25% said the impact was significant.
- approximately 35% of all online donors gave at least half of their donation amount online; 22% of all online donors gave all of their donations online. This means that approximately 3% of all donors in 2004 gave all their donations online.
“The tsunami may have accounted for $200m of the total online giving in 2004,” said Ephraim Feig, Kintera’s Chief Technology Officer and Chief Marketing Officer, who designed the survey and analysed the data. “The vast majority is due to donors’ acceptance of the Internet as an immediate, convenient and safe way to give.”
Roseanne Luth, president and CEO of Luth Research/Luth Research Online, added: “the fact that online giving has increased by more than 50% this past year confirms that those who experience online giving are finding it a preferred alternative to traditional giving of charitable donations.”
The report is based on a total of 3,142 responses from two surveys administered in March and April 2005 to the Luth Research SurveySavvy Panel, an online sample source with 3.5 million individuals in the USA.
The Kintera/Luth Nonprofit Trend Report, offering in-depth research about the online population’s donation habits, can be downloaded at no charge.
More than 15,000 nonprofits use Kintera’s “software as a service” solution. The company is currently expanding to the UK. Contact the UK team.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.