What's your Donor Personality?

Last month I read a new report released by Convio, Edge Research and Sea Change Strategies (see article) that says that we, non profits, are missing out on getting the "wired wealthy" to donate online.

They found that half of major donors surveyed prefer to give online. I think that like those surveyed, our donors are also starting to get more use of our online giving and more confident about it - finding out that we do not share their contact information and use Verisign to protect their payment process.

Another interesting point in the report is they found 3 personality types:


29% are Relationship Seekers - Relationship seekers put the most stock in how a charity web site forms a connection with them. They tend to skew younger (under 45) and are most likely to engage in social activities with the charity. 2/3rds of relationship seekers say that a charity's web site plays a role in whether or not they give money.

41% are Casual Connectors - Like relationship seekers, so-called casual connectors also seek a connection with the charity. However, for them it is less personal -- they're more interested in things like how efficiently the charity is using their money and want easy access to that information.

30% are All Business - The all business set doesn't care about feeling connected to the charity, rather they want the donation process to be as easy and painless as possible. They also tend to give the most money.

So I ask: What personality are you? How would you like us to treat you online?