Poll Finds Donors Who Are Online and Give More Spend More Time with the WEB than TV

Washington, DC – August 21, 2007 - Donors who are online and give more spend more time with the Internet than television. Those who donated $5,000 or more in the past year and who are online spent an average of 19 hours per week online as compared with an average of 16 hours watching television. In comparison, those who gave less than $1,000 in the past year spend more time with television than the Internet – on average those who gave less than $1,000 spend 17 hours per week with the Internet as compared with an average of 18 hours with television.

Those who are the most civically engaged (i.e., those who are engaged in five or more civic engagement activities) and who are online spend more time each week with the Internet (an average of 20 hours) than with television (an average of 17 hours).
These are some of the results of The Donor Pulse® survey conducted online by Harris Interactive between May 17 and 22, 2007 of 2,379 engaged U.S. adults, those 18 and over, who volunteered, donated or advocated for a nonprofit or charitable organization within the past twelve months. This survey was conducted in part in collaboration with Mindshare Interactive Campaigns.
Overall, supporters of charitable and nonprofit organizations who are online spend about equal time each week with the Internet as they do watching television. On average, adults who are online and support charitable and nonprofit organizations spend an average of 17 hours a week watching television and an average of 16 hours with the Internet.

Time spent each week with the television (17 hours) and Internet (16 hours) exceeds time spent with radio (9 hours), newspapers (4 hours), and magazines (3 hours).

Those who are more educated and who are online spend more time online than they do watching television. The least educated supporters (those with high school or less) spend more time with television (average of 21 hours) than the Internet (average of 17 hours). The balance shifts to the Internet with achievement of at least some college and the gap between the two increases as education level increases. Those with some college spend an average of 16 hours online and an average of 16 hours watching television. College graduates spend an average of 16 hours per week with the Internet and 15 hours per week with the television. Post graduates spend an average of 16 hours online per week compared to 14 hours with television.


Among, those who are online and support nonprofits, there are also generational differences when it comes to media preferences. Between television and the Internet, those younger than 50 spend more time, on average, with the Internet while those over 50 spend more time with television. Younger adults spend an average of between 13 and 17 hours with television while older adults are spending at least 20. Internet usage is more consistent across age groups (on average between 15 and 18 hours per week) but favored, in comparison to television, among those younger than 50.

Michele Salomon, Research Director, of Harris Interactive comments: “These findings suggest that important segments of nonprofit and charitable supporters rely on the Internet as much if not more than other media sources to get their information. This seems more pronounced among the most civically engaged and financially supportive.”

Dan Solomon, CEO of Mindshare Interactive Campaigns comments: “For civic groups, this survey points the way if they are to remain relevant and continue to acquire and sustain supporters. It shows that those online adults, who are engaged in their community, are predominately relying upon the Internet to get their information. The Internets’ ability to build communities and deliver in-depth information on demand is driving this reliance.”



Methodology

The Donor Pulse ® was conducted online within the United States by Harris Interactive between May 17 and 22, 2007 among a nationwide cross section of 2,379 adults (aged 18 and over) who volunteered, donated or advocated for a nonprofit or charitable organization within the past twelve months, also referred to as engaged adults or nonprofit supporters. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the U.S. adult population as needed for age, sex, race and ethnicity, education, region and income, except for results from questions related to online use, which are representative of the respective online populations of US adults. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online.
All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, Harris Interactive avoids the words “margin of error” as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal.
Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Interactive surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the U.S. adult population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to be invited to participate in the Harris Interactive online research panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

About Harris Interactive
Harris Interactive is the 13th largest and fastest-growing market research firm in the world. The company provides innovative research, insights and strategic advice to help its clients make more confident decisions which lead to measurable and enduring improvements in performance. Harris Interactive is widely known for The Harris Poll, one of the longest running, independent opinion polls and for pioneering online market research methods. The company has built what it believes to be the world’s largest panel of survey respondents, the Harris Poll Online. Harris Interactive serves clients worldwide through its North American, European and Asian offices and through a global network of independent market research firms. More information about Harris Interactive may be obtained at www.harrisinteractive.com. To become a member of the Harris Poll Online and be invited to participate in online surveys, register at www.harrispollonline.com.


About Mindshare Interactive Campaigns

Mindshare Interactive Campaigns is a full-service interactive agency and, since 1997, has helped its clients build awareness for their issues and ideas, engage and educate people and inspire them to take measurable action. Its work on behalf of corporate and non-profit clients has been recognized for excellence by the Direct Marketing Association, PR News, the Public Affairs Council, and the South-By-Southwest Festival among others. The firm has offices in Austin, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington, DC. More information about Mindshare Interactive Campaigns can be found at http://www.mindshare.net

Contact Information

Mimi Carter

Publicist

Mindshare Interactive Campaigns

Contact via E-mail