Here are two recent donor surveys that have come to our attention.

Given the usual focus on studying Boomers, we were surprised read on Social Citizens blog about this 2010 study of Millennial Donors conducted by fundraising agencies Achieve and JGL. A fresh study will be released in April.

The basic message of the Millennials survey is ‘get personal.’ For all their touted use of online/mobile media, Millennials really like direct interaction … events, interaction with organization leaders, volunteering. I was struck by this observation …

“The good news is that, once engaged, these donors seem more than willing to bring others onboard. Roughly seven out of 10 of the respondents said they would communicate with friends and family about ways to get involved in the organization, and about the same number said they would be willing to ask others to volunteer. The willingness fell off slightly when it came to asking for donations, however, with 51.6% of respondents saying they would be willing to ask family and friends for financial gifts.”

The second phone/online survey was conducted post-2010 congressional elections by direct response fundraising agency OMP. It queried a sample of progressive advocacy donors and activists selected from a range of groups including ACLU, Planned Parenthood, Oxfam America, NRDC, Common Cause and others.

This survey focused more on the political and issue mindset of cause supporters following the election.

The message here is one of disillusionment (amongst online activists especially) … “donors and activists look at 2011 as a year in which not much good can happen … They operate from a position of deep disgust with a corrupt political system, one that seriously limits their interest in emotionally investing in Beltway-based progress.”

Based on such low expectations, the report warns that “donors and activists can easily lapse into the belief that action on their part won’t have any positive consequences and inaction won’t do much harm.”

The survey makes no pretense of representing all charitable donors. That said, Frank O’Brien and his team at OMP have been successful political and cause fundraisers for decades … I’d take their analysis of the fundraising context pretty seriously if my nonprofit was working the center-left side of the political aisle.

Keeping in mind that OMP looked at two different segments, actual donors and online activists (who were not donors to the providing organization), it is nonetheless noteworthy that 54% the donor segment contribute to 10 or more organizations, while 75% of activists contribute to less than ten groups (46% to less than five).

OMP notes an overall downward trend in the number of organizations direct response donors typically support, and worries that groups might find it harder and harder to convert online activists into donors … a proven strategy in recent years.

Here is the OMP study.

Tom

P.S. Interesting factoid. Who remains the champ as primary news source for OMP’s progressive donors and activists? NPR … even amongst the generally younger online activists.