There’s an attitude out there that online fundraising hasn’t quite arrived yet in Canada. Almost every nonprofit does it, but most just don’t devote much in the way of time or resources to it.

I have met many traditional fundraisers who belittle online giving. Many of these people are from the major gifts school of thinking and for them the real money is in cultivating large gifts. Online, to them, is mostly about giving donors information between asks. To them, online fundraising is not much to sneeze at.

But times are changing. A US study clearly shows that there is a shift taking place among wealthy donors with more and more of them going online to connect with charities.

The study, The Wired Wealthy, was released in 2008 by Convio, Sea Change Strategies and Edge Research. It looked at nearly 3,500 donors who had given more than $1,000 to one of 23 major US nonprofit organizations in the same 18-month period through any channel (online or offline). Most of these donors were in their 50s (Boomers) and the average gift was about $10,000.

Researchers segmented the wired wealthy into three groups. Relationship Seekers were the smallest group at 29%, but they were the second highest donors. This group is characterized by a strong personal connection to the nonprofit and its work. They spend more time online than the others and are most likely to watch online videos. Relationship Seekers are multi-channel donors, but more than half say they expect their online giving to grow in the coming years.

The second group, called All Business, were the highest donors and the second largest group. Their name says exactly how they view a nonprofit. They predominantly visit charity web sites to donate — period. They want a smooth and simple donation process and a tax receipt at the end of the year. “After that, they pretty much want to be left alone,” the report says.

The third group was named the Casual Connectors. At 41 percent, they were the largest group, but they gave the least. The study describes them as the “in between” group, between the Relationship Seekers and the All Business.

Web plays a role

The study found that nonprofit websites play a significant role in decision-making resource for the wired wealthy. Sixty-six percent visit the website of a cause or charity before donating for the first time.

At the same time, the report found that the wired wealthy were underwhelmed by nonprofit websites and emails. Only about a third found websites very useful. Only eight percent agreed very strongly that nonprofit websites were inspiring; seven percent agreed very strongly that the websites made them feel personally connected to their cause or mission. When asked whether the charity website makes it easy to get information on how to decide to give, only 11 percent agreed very strongly.

The wired wealthy use multiple giving channels for donating. Most have given online and by mail. A slight majority prefer online. However, 46 percent said they will likely be making more of their donations online using the Internet in the next five years.

Most wired wealthy donors are not frequent website visitors. They mostly visit before they give and then infrequently through the year.

This demographic also believes they get too much email from nonprofits. Seventy-three percent said they read “about half” or less of each charity email they receive. Twenty-seven percent say they read “hardly any.” However, the study found that the wired wealthy are receptive to email solicitations, especially renewal notices. Tactics most likely to please wired wealthy donors are action alerts, success stories, a tax receipt at year-end, and reports on how money was spent.

The bottom line

Clearly, the wealthy donor segment is moving more and more online. The days when we could say that “our donors are old, they don’t give online” are passing before our eyes. Online fundraising is here to stay and nonprofits need to start taking their online marketing more seriously.

Having said this, keep in mind there is also online “fatigue” — too many emails and too little at nonprofit websites to keep them coming back again and again. If this is a problem for your charity, it is likely a symptom of a lack of an effective engagement strategy. You just need the right message, and you’ll cut through.

John Suart is a marketing and communications expert with an MBA who specializes in nonprofits. His blog, the nonprofit Marketer, has a host of useful tips and advice on everything from budgeting to branding.