(Originally posted May 2010)
A few weeks ago I decided to run a poll/survey to see who supports charities and what they support; the results aren’t that surprising to me given I have been working within this sector for a number of years.
I thought I’d share the results with you; if you’re working in this sector you’re more than welcome to use and share this information. It may help you better target when looking at supporter acquisition and retention.
Survey
Selecting a Charity
How do you select a charity to support? With so many worthwhile causes, what criteria do you use to make your choice?
How did you select the charity?
Personal issue 29%
Family Involvement 23%
Issue close to heart 41%
Other 7%
What area does the charity you support work in
Family 14%
Children 11%
Health 19%
International Welfare (Aid) 33%
Societal Change 14%
Other 9%
What support do you give?
Financial 51%
Time (volunteer) 19%
Goods 9%
Services 13%
Other 8%
How often do you give support?
Weekly 19%
Monthly 28%
Quarterly 6%
Annually 44%
Other 3%
If you give financial support how much would you typically give per year?
Less than $100 48%
$100-$200 17%
$200-$300 5%
$300-$500 3%
$500-$700 0%
$700-$1000 4%
$1000-$2000 8%
More than $2000 15%
Where is the charity you support based?
New Zealand 49%
Australia 3%
Pacific 3%
Asia 0%
USA 24%
UK 3%
Other 7%
Unknown 11%
Demographics
Age
Under 15 2%
15-18 2%
18-25 5%
25-30 7%
30-35 16%
35-40 12%
40-49 23%
49-55 19%
55-65 11%
65+ 3%
Gender
Female 53%
Australia 47%
Marital Status
Single 33%
Married/De-facto 57%
Divorced 1%
Never Been Married 9%
Children
No Children 32%
1-2 27%
2-3 24%
3-5 14%
More than 5 children 3%
Race/Country of Origin
NZ European 47%
NZ Maori 9%
Pacific Islander 2%
Asian 13%
American/Canadian 11%
UK 9%
Other 9%
Usual Country of Residence
NZ 78%
Australia 5%
Pacific 3%
USA/Canada 5%
UK 6%
Other 3%
Employment
Unemployed 2%
Employed Part-time 13%
Employed Full-Time 33%
Self-Employed 27%
Company Director 17%
Retired 6%
Other 2%
Comment
Some respondents indicated that they would like to give more however their own personal situation precluded them from doing so. Others indicated that lack of feedback as to where support went, what it was used for was making them rethink their charitable contributions to organisations. There were a high number of people who said they felt duty bound to give to others who were less fortunate, and others who said it was almost a Kiwi thing to support charities or not-for-profit groups working in the community.
Notes
- Survey conducted using Twitpoll, emailed questionnaire, personal interviews
- Survey conducted May 2010
- Survey Sample 120 (Total Respondents)
- Margin of error +/-4%
- More on NZ Charity Sector – Charities Commission
charitymattersnz.com 