Affluent people are increasingly likely to use the Internet to make their charitable donations, according to results of a study released today. But charities are also turning off some of their biggest donors – people who give $1,000 or more. Some charities send too many messages to donors who say they don’t want them, while others don’t take advantage of the interest many donors express in expanding their online interaction with nonprofit organizations.

Two key findings:

• Four out of five donors said they had made a charitable gift online, and a little more than half, 51 percent, said they prefer to use the Internet for their donations. Some 46 percent said that they expect to make a greater percentage of their charitable gifts online within the next five years.
• Fifty-six percent said charities send too many e-mail messages, and 47 percent said they do not read as many messages from charities as they did in the past.

Read more from The Chronicle of Philanthropy here.
The executive summary of the survey, The Wired Wealthy: Using the Internet to Connect with Your Middle and Major Donors, is available at no charge.