WebProNews

A new survey conducted by Convio, Sea Change Strategies and Edge Research found that major donors to nonprofits give generous amounts to various causes online.

On average major donors give $11,000 each year to a variety of nonprofits and they spend an average of 18 hours a week online.

Most charity Web sites are missing opportunities to fully engage major donors. One of the authors of the report Vinay Bhagat told WebProNews what charities could do to better connect online with wealthy donors.  Bhagat said," About 2/3 of the time, they will visit a nonprofit Website before electing to make a gift to a new cause.  They expect to be able to easily select giving options, review financials, and control their communications experience." 

"They want to be acknowledged as they return to your Website and have content adjusted to their interests and profile.  They want to be able to control what email communications they receive."

Only 40 percent said that most charity Web sites made them feel personally connected to their cause. Just 34 percent said the information on the Web sites was "very useful," while 46 percent said the information was "somewhat useful" in their decision making process.

Sixty-four percent of major donors said that personal stories by people whose lives had been changed by the charity were valuable. Sixty-nine percent said that reviews and summaries of recent news coverage of the charity was valuable.

On the importance of major online donors Bhagat said," Major and mid-level donors are a very important constituency.  For the groups participating, 1% of the donor file are in this segment, but these donors constitute 32% of revenue."