35% of Online Donors Say Compelling Website Content Inspires Them to Give More

NASHUA, N.H, Sept. 8, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Kentico Software, the Web Content and Customer Experience Management provider, today unveiled the findings from a survey of online donors, the latest installment of Kentico's ongoing Digital Experience research series.

According to the survey, 35% of those who donate online say they are sometimes moved to give more than planned when presented with compelling website content. But while visual content is commonly credited for amplifying many of today's digital marketing efforts, when it comes to charities, donors are much more likely to respond to personal stories (35%) and statistics (32%).

Upgrading Repeat Donors with Compelling Content

67% also report mostly giving to the same charities, underscoring the need to upgrade donors whenever possible. With 44% preferring to give via a charity's website (vs. in person or via mail) and 47% claiming to visit the same non-profit websites regularly, non-profits do appear to have a sizeable opportunity in connecting with their repeat donors through the content on their sites.

"While charities continue to face an uphill battle in attracting new donors, our survey suggests the right digital content can encourage greater generosity among repeat donors," said Kentico CEO and Founder Petr Palas. "Regardless of the cause or need, non-profit sites need to combine the human and emotional elements along with the hard facts that show how widespread the problem might be."

Attracting New Donors with Creative, Shareable Content

With 75% of Internet users claiming to give throughout the year and only 12% questioning the impact their donations will have on the given cause, Kentico's survey suggests the web is teeming with generosity and trust, but generating awareness among new donors and convincing them to give is a challenge for even savvy non-profit digital marketers. When asked how they heard about charities that were previously unknown to them, only 36% report learning about a non-profit organization online. 35% hear about them mostly offline through family and friends, 17% on television, and 12% via periodicals, telemarketing and other ways.

Respondents also for the most part do not seem interested in receiving email newsletters from non-profits with the majority (31%) of survey respondents receiving 1 to 2 newsletters, 13% receiving 3 to 4, 9% receiving more than 5, and 46% receiving none. Similarly, while 20% report following 1-2 charities on Facebook or Twitter, 70% admit to not following any.

"New donors can be extremely difficult to reach—even online, which is why non-profit digital marketers must be incredibly creative," continued Palas. "The ALS ice bucket challenge is a perfect example of how a non-profit organization can use creative, compelling, and inherently shareable content to introduce itself to millions of new potential donors."

The Kentico Non-Profit Website Survey is the seventh installment of an ongoing Kentico Digital Experience Research series that was kicked off last year with the Kentico Customer Experience Survey and continued with the Kentico Mobile Experience Survey, Email Marketing Survey, Website Marketing Survey, Digital Brand Interactions Survey, and Content Marketing Survey.

332 US Internet users 18 years old and over participated in the Kentico Charities Survey, conducted online during the month of May, 2014.

More on Kentico's specific offering for nonprofit organizations can be found here.

About Kentico
Kentico brings smart integrated digital marketing to businesses of all sizes with a comprehensive suite of solutions. With Kentico's Web Content Management, Online Marketing, E-commerce, Online Communities, and Intranet & Collaboration solutions, clients can deliver superior cross-channel customer experiences across all devices. Based on the Microsoft .NET platform, Kentico comes with 450 web parts and fully documented API and is available on-premise or in the cloud. Flexible, robust and scalable, Kentico delivers right-first-time technology, out-of-the-box speed, and affordable sophistication to help customers meet their goals faster and more profitably.

About Kentico Software
Founded in 2004, Kentico is headquartered in the Czech Republic with offices in the US, UK, and Australia. A Microsoft Gold Certified Partner with 1,100 digital agency partners, Kentico powers more than 18,000 websites in 90 countries. Customers include Bacardi; Great British Chefs; Gibson; Mazda; Microsoft; Mighty River Power; Run and Become; Sony; Vodafone.

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SOURCE Kentico Software