When we sign a sponsorship card we might put ourselves down for a fiver or maybe a tenner, and when it comes to passing a charity in the street we might drop a few euros in the bucket, or whatever we have in our wallets or pockets.
The pattern for those making donations online is significantly different, according to Niall Devine, CEO of MyCharity.ie, because people are always more flash with their credit card. Why would you visit a charity site and only proceed to give €2 when you could just as easily give more?
“It makes an enormous difference if people give online. What people give on a sponsorship card is whatever people have on them at the time and it’s the right denomination.
“If I approach you and you happen to have €50 on you, will you give it to me? Probably not. People give much more generously with their credit card,” said Devine.
According to MyCharity.ie’s stats, the average donation or pledge on the site last year was €58.25 per transaction but putting it in perspective, there was one charity that received a single credit-card donation of €10,000.
“If you were to do further statistical analysis, it would be a pyramid arrangement. There are lots of €10, €20 and €50 donations in there and indeed plenty but less so of €100 and €200 donations.”
So shifting to an online methodology from a paid sponsorship card essentially means more money for the charity but it can be hard for any charity to keep track of all statistics on frequency, average, slumps, highs etc of donations received in a given year.
MyCharity.ie is soon bringing out a site revamp that will include a statistics engine using information from all transactions throughout the year. So if there is say a list of events throughout year and the charity has a hole in event calendar, it will be clearly identified.
By Marie Boran
