Online Giving Projected to Soar this Quarter

Convio estimates that US giving during the 2010 holiday season to nonprofit organizations will be more than $48 billion across all giving channels – including online, direct mail and donation at checkout – as more than 174 million adult Americans plan to give money to charity between Thanksgiving and year-end. Online giving alone is estimated to account for more than $6 billion, an increase of more than 30 percent from this same period in 2009.

The 2010 Holiday Giving Survey conducted by Edge Research® on behalf of Convio, reveals that nearly three-quarters (74 percent) of adults plan to make a charitable contribution this holiday season, and a majority of holiday donors (60 percent) plan to give $100 or more.

Survey highlights show that:

• Seventy-four percent (74 percent) of adults plan to give this holiday season. With average total gifts of $281, the anticipated amount raised by non-profit organizations will be more than $48 billion.
• Giving is profoundly multi-channel – seven-in-ten donors will give in multiple ways such as direct through the mail, online through websites, at events, or as they leave stores after holiday shopping. Donors who give online are particularly generous, donating a total of approximately $13.7 billion through all channels with more than $6 billion being given online. Not to be ignored are the non-traditional forms of giving – tipping, third party purchases and purchases from charity gift shops.
• Holiday giving is emotional – donors say that appeals, which put a face to the donation (either human or animal), and remind donors to help those who are less fortunate at this time of year, are most persuasive.
• Holiday giving is particularly effective with harder-to-reach Generations X and Y, as large percentages of these groups intend to give and give generously – 83 percent of Gen Y plan to give, while 79 percent of Gen X say they will give. Gen X plans to give $348 in total this holiday season, more than any other generation.