More international group donors now say they prefer charities to communicate with them via email (61%) rather than mailed letters (54%). Both methods are many times more popular than other methods, such as phone, text and in person, neither of which garners the support of more than four percent of donors. Nine percent of donors prefer not to be contacted by any method. These figures add up to more than 100% because donors could select more than one option.
This is an increase in the preference for email and a drop in the preference for letters. In 2008, 71% of donors to international causes (and 63% of all donors) preferred postal mail and only 33% preferred email (29% for all donors).
However, direct mail letters remain the field in terms of donation generation: 43% of donors to international causes say they have given in the last twelve months because of a letter they received. Email is second at 28% and fundraising events are third at 23%.
The letters were especially popular with older donors. There is a direct correlation: the older the donor, the more likely he is to have donated because of a letter. This probability peaks with 61% of respondents over the age of 70 giving because of a letter, compared to only 22% giving because of a letter among those under 40.
Surprisingly, no such correlation was found between age and response to email requests. Older donors appear to have embraced email giving to the same extent as younger donors.
These donation statistics also represent a decrease in letter donations and an increase in email donations. When the same study was conducted in 2008, 50% of donors to international causes gave thanks because of a letter they received the previous year, compared to just 15% because of an email. Since that study, email has jumped from eighth place in popularity in response methods to second place.
Methodology: These results come from a survey conducted in October and November 2011. The study collected the opinions, perceptions, and preferences of more than 2,600 donors to organizations that provide international assistance, development, and child sponsorship. This response level provides a sampling error of ±1.9% at the 95% confidence level, although the number of donors responding to a given question fluctuates. Guest lists were provided by five international child relief/development/sponsorship charities. The survey was conducted online (94%), telephone (3%) and mail (3%).