"The Wired Wealthy" - Great Report!

An in-depth study of mid-level and large online donors from Convio, Sea Change and Edge Research. A must-read for anyone seeking to do online fundraising for social change.

In March 2008, Convio, Sea Change Strategies and Edge Research released a report titled, "The Wired Wealthy: Using the Internet to Connect with Your Middle and Major Donors."  We think it's one of the most interesting, actionable pieces of online fundraising research we've ever read.  If you're part of our world, you need to read this report.

Here's a quick snippet from the intro:

The wired wealthy are by definition engaged online and are generous givers. A closer look at demographics and practices adds some useful details.

First, they are very generous givers. Wired wealthy say they give an average of $10,896 each year to various causes, with a median gift of $4,500. And they are notably wealthy. More than twenty-five percent (25%) have household incomes above $200,000 per year. More than half have annual household incomes above $100,000.

Of the 13 participating charities and nonprofits that provided additional data, on average, high dollar donors make up about one percent (1%) of their records (high dollar defined as giving a cumulative total of $1,000 or more to the partner organization in an 18-month period). While small in numbers of people, that one percent (1%) is responsible for an average of thirty-two percent (32%) of the organization’s total dollars raised. Partner organizations reported having, on average, email addresses for twenty-five (25%) of their $1,000+ donors.

Demographically, wired wealthy are predominantly baby boomers (born between 1946 and 1964), with the center of gravity falling right in the middle of the baby boom cohort. And, they are extremely wired. They have been using the Internet for an average of 12 years. They are online an average of 18 hours per week. They know their way around the Web. They do their banking and bill paying online. They read the news online. They make purchases online. And, of course, most make charitable contributions online.

The wired wealthy have dabbled in various social networks and so-called "Web 2.0" venues, but do not appear to be among the heaviest adopters. One exception may be YouTube – more than half of wired wealthy respondents have watched at least one video. A quarter of this group at least occasionally read blogs. Perhaps predictably, Facebook and MySpace do not represent fertile hunting grounds to find or engage the wired wealthy.