A newly released report – “The Growing Importance of Charity Websites to Philanthropy” – says “while there is overall growth in the preference to give through a charity website as in response to a direct mail appeal, the greatest growth is among the 60+-year-old demographic. This demographic has increased their online giving in response to a direct mail appeal by 10 basis points, or 55%, since 2010.”

Other key findings form the report, issued by Dunham+Company, include:

• In October 2011, 61% of donors reported giving online, and in April 2012, 63% reported the same behavior. Giving through a charity website is slightly lower at 50% (some donors have given through shared sites, crowd funding, etc.). What is consistent through this period is that about 1 out of 2 donors indicates they have given to a charity through the charity’s website.

• About one in six donors (17% in 2013) gave through a charity’s website because they were influenced to do so by direct mail. This is in stark contrast to the proportion of donors influenced to give this way due to an email message, which in 2013 was just 2.7%. Notably, the amount of online giving driven by email messages has dropped by more than half since 2010 (see full report for more on this).

The complete report is available for download here.