Hot off the Presses - the Digital Giving Index!

Since 2010, Network for Good has published the Digital Giving Index which looks at online giving trends across the Network for Good platform, including both branded and generic donation pages, peer-to-peer fundraising, portal giving, and employee giving. The latest Digital Giving Index looks at the patterns of online giving for 2013 and shows how donors give across channels. This data represents $190M in giving to 40,000 charities.  Here are some trends that were pulled through:Online giving is thriving.Online giving continues to grow at a faster clip than overall giving.  Nonprofit donation pages are still key.On Network for Good’s platform, 61% of online gifts are still made through a charity’s online donation page. For the first time, employee giving was added in a as a channel in the Digital Giving Index to show how this type of charitable giving stacks up. The number of employee donations grew by 83% from 2012 to 2013.Not all online giving is the same. The rate of growth and size of average gifts vary from channel to channel. Donors give more on branded giving pages vs. generic giving experiences, e-commerce-style solutions, or charity giving portals. (Branded giving pages are those donation experiences that look and feel like a nonprofit’s website or campaign materials). Donors’ average gifts are also higher on branded giving pages:

• 12% smaller average gifts on giving portals
• 20-30% smaller average gifts on generic giving pages
• Compared to 2012 average gift size decreased by 4% on generic giving pages, but grew on branded giving pages by 4%.

Giving is also social.Giving is often prompted by personal ties, either to a cause or an organization. But giving is also social in that we are influenced very strongly by our networks as well as those we perceive to be our peers. Peer-to-peer fundraising as a concept isn’t new. People have been crowdfunding and raising money through events, contests, and marathons way before online giving. However, the power of social media combined with those peer networks—along with the ease of online giving—have enabled peer-to-peer giving to really take off online.Read the full report here.