Here’s it is: ‘actigiver’.

In a Huffington Post piece, Giving In The Age of Outrage, Steve MacLauglin, VP of Data and Analytics at Blackbaud and author of Data Driven Nonprofits, claims that the question of “whether online activists would ever turn their clicks into gifts” has now been answered.

The answer, according to Steve is definitely “Yes”.

Noting the marked surges in giving to Planned Parenthood and the ACLU following the 2016 U.S. elections and to Meals On Wheels following last week’s announcement of proposed cuts in the federal budget, Steve says it’s time for some new definitions.

For example, he argues, say goodbye to the term ‘slactivists’ — those folks who feel they had ‘done enough’ simply by watching a video or sharing a link.

Instead, what we have customarily thought of as ‘episodic’ giving — for war, hurricanes, earthquakes, famine — is evolving into ‘actigiving’, which in Steve’s view is the “acceleration of how people move from just hearing about the causes they care about to quickly supporting them with a gift”.

Steve traces the significant milestones in episodic giving from World War I to the Hurricane Katrina and through the Nepal Earthquake of 2015. His brief history is worth a read.

But Steve argues that the Internet has changed that history and accelerated change with the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami as the tipping point. Beginning in 2004 and through today “every single major disaster or incident since then demonstrates that the Internet is a first response channel of choice for donors”.

“An analysis of the data from Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the 2010 Haitian earthquake and the 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami, 2012’s Hurricane Sandy, Typhoon Haiyan in 2013, and most recently the Nepal earthquake in 2015, followed a consistent pattern of donors choosing to give online immediately following the event. Nonprofits like Médecins Sans Frontières, Medical Teams International, Save the Children, and the Salvation Army have become leaders in using the digital landscape to inform, engage, and motivate donors to give following a disaster.”

It is the effective use of this ‘digital landscape’ — connecting social media channels to giving — that is the critical driver in transforming episodic giving into ‘actigiving’, where giving shifts and continues beyond single response to an extraordinary event into ongoing support for a movement.

Before you rush out and hire a social media guru or spend thousands on Facebook advertising and AdWords, heed this warning that accompanies Steve’s analysis:

“It cannot be stressed enough that these new donors need to be kept engaged, stewarded, and shown the impact of their gifts. Historical data shows that episodic donors are a challenge for nonprofits to retain for more than few years. Talk to anyone who has worked with these donors and they will tell you that there is a ticking clock from the moment that gift is made.”

Noting the more skeptical nature of today’s donors Steve continues:

“Nonprofits will have to work even harder to retain this new kind of episodic donor — the actigivist. Donors want to know how they have helped the cause and this influences their decision to give again. It would be a lost opportunity if these organizations don’t maintain long-term relationships with these new supporters.”

So, once again, as has been the case year after year, seizing the opportunity that comes from a boom in vast numbers of new donors depends on the investment and follow-up organizations are willing to make in transforming one-off givers into continuing, committed long-term supporters.

Or, as Steve puts it, “nonprofits face a growing challenge to build a healthy social economy during these turbulent times. It is vital that these organizations act as a catalyst that turns passion into informed action and spasmodic giving into disciplined and regular generosity.”

If you’re benefitting from a flood of new donors or members in this post-election climate, what steps are you taking to turn these episodic donors into long-term Actigivers?

Roger

P.S.  Here are the examples Steve cites of the current post-election tsunami of actigivers” … Planned Parenthood receiving nearly 80,000 donations just three days after the election. The American Civil Liberties Union’s (ACLU) receipt of more than $24 million in online donations in a single weekend following the election. Reports that Meals on Wheels also experienced a surge in public donations following last week’s announcement of federal budget cuts.