"The survey says"...
My recent survey of 3 Toronto area, Animal Welfare charities is complete - along with the accompanying analysis. The survey was sent to approximately 785 individuals and a link to the survey was placed on the websites of the participating charities. Based on the 444 completed survey responess, we are able to assess a confidence level of 95% with a confidence interval of 3.51.
Comparison data for this report is based on 2 different studies:
- The Canadian Survey of Giving Volunteering and Participation ~ Imagine Canada & Stats Can
- "Boomers! Negotiating the Generational Divide in Fundraising & Advocacy" ~ Cravers, Matthew, Smith and Company (CMS), in cooperation with The PrimeGroup. (2005)
The full research document is available by clicking here and the full survey summary data can be found by clicking here.
Key Demographics Observations
- More than 61% of respondents are age 40 or under, while 34% are 41 years of age or more. This is most unusual in a world where charitable sector supporters are often categorized as “older”.
- 72% of respondents have received a higher education diploma, undergraduate degree or post graduate degree.
- 16% of respondents report an annual household income of $96,000.00 a year or more. This is remarkably high, given that the average annual income for individuals in Ontario is $40,000.00. (Statistics Canada, 2005)
- 48% of respondents are married or common-law, while 45% of respondents are single, divorced or widowed.
- 95% of respondents use the internet daily or several times a day.
- Only 54% of respondents have made a charitable donation using the internet.
- Only 12% of respondents indicated that religion or spirituality, highly or somewhat influenced their desire to donate to an animal welfare charity.
- 89% indicated that knowing specifically how their donations will be used is highly or somewhat influential in their decision to donate to an animal welfare charity.
Interests & Motivations
Compared to the CGSVP, respondents in the animal welfare survey were far more likely to respond to mail, television and radio advertisements, attend events and even telephone solicitations.
This is particularly interesting, given that 83% of survey respondents indicated that they somewhat or strongly disliked being contacted by charities via telephone.
Another very distinctive difference between survey respondents and CSGVP findings is the role of religion in Canadian giving. The CGSVP indicates that 45% of all donations are made to religious organizations. Not a single respondent indicated making a gift to a religious organization and only 12% indicated that religion and/or spirituality is somewhat or highly influential in making a gift to an animal welfare charity.
Additionally, the CGSVP indicates that 14% of all Canadian donations are directed to Health related charities, while respondents to the animal welfare survey show that more than 46% of participants donate to this sector.
When asked which factors would be most influential in making future donations to an animal welfare charity, 3 factors stood out as most influential:
- Strong belief in the charity's mission and goals.
- Knowing how their donation will be used.
- Perceived need of the organization.
Factors such as religion, tax receipts and convenience are among the least influential.
The Data
Please feel free to use this data in whole or in part with appropriate attribution. Again, as stated above, you can download the full survey summary by clicking here. The full comparative report is available by clicking here. If you are interested in obtaining raw data from the survey (with identifying and organizational data removed), please contact me directly by clicking here. Alternatively, you can find my contact information by clicking on the "About" link at the top of this page and viewing my resume.
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