By Peter Panepento
New research suggests that groups that are putting off developing an engaging mobile presence for their peer-to-peer fundraising events are leaving money on the table — and turning off potential volunteers and donors.
The fundraising software company Blackbaud studied the mobile fundraising performance of 343 nonprofits and found that 19.6 percent of all events registrations come from mobile devices. In other words, nearly 1 in 5 of events registrations are coming from phones or tablets.
That’s a big percentage — and it stands to reason that groups that have developed responsive websites and are creating messages that are aimed at mobile users are getting an even bigger share.
In fact, the research found that groups that have a responsive web site received a higher proportion of registrations from mobile devices than those that have sites that are built only for desktop computers.
When a nonprofit’s site is responsive, 26.2 percent of event registrants who register from an email are on a mobile device.
As a result, groups that have invested in responsive sites are getting more mobile registrations — presumably driving up their total registration numbers.
Among the other findings from the study:
- 49 percent of all emails were read on mobile devices across the web in December 2014
- 16.6 percent of donors who give from an email are on a mobile device. That number jumps to 18.5 percent for groups that have a responsive web site.
- 12.3 percent of membership purchases come from smartphones or tablets. That number increases to 17.2 percent for nonprofits have have responsive sites.
Blackbaud has also created the infographic below to help understand the report’s findings.
