Image courtesy of Modern SeniorThe frequency of online giving increased by 14% in 2013. The huge increase in revenue generated by online donations also helped fundraisers realize their market is now, firmly, online.
As a result, nonprofits across the board are shifting their advertising and community outreach efforts through online mediums almost exclusively.
However, despite this increased emphasis that’s been placed on online fundraising, there still exists a stigma that could be keeping nonprofits away from thousands or even millions of donation dollars.
According to a new study published September 2 by Xtraordinary Fundraising and Forster Communication revealed nonprofits are searching too hard for ways to engage younger people, and not spending enough time engaging with the Baby Boomers and Civics generations.
The stigma against older generations not spending their time online is a farce. Here are some statistics that might just make you shift your online fundraising efforts away from the younger generations and more toward the baby boomers:
- In the United States alone, one-third of all Internet users in the United States are adults over the age of 50, and represent the largest constituency of active Internet users.(Jupiter Research)
- Two-thids of Americans over the age of 50 buy from Internet retailers. (Pew Internet)
- In 2012, baby boomers spent over 27 hours per week on the Internet, 2 hours more than millennials!(WSL Strategic Retail)
- 36% of adults over the age of 50 own a smart phone. (Pew Internet)
- Adults 45 and over comprise 34.7% of the tablet users in the United States. (Comscore TabLens)
- From 2004 - 2009, the number of seniors age 65+ actively using the Internet increased more than 55% (Nielsen).
- 27.4 million people age 55 and over engaged in social networking with nearly 19 million of those people using Facebook (comScore).
- Adults 50+ spend an average of $7 billion online annually (SeniorNet).
- 72% of adults 55-63 and even 47% age 73+ shop online (Forrester).
