More than half of the visitors to the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) website are via mobile devices, compared with 36 percent from desktop computers, and another 9 percent from visitors on tablets. Despite the increasing proportion of mobile visitors, 80 percent of gifts still come via desktop users compared with 20 percent via mobile.
“We’ve optimized all our forms for mobile but still getting desktop mostly,” said Joanne Wilson, director of acquisition at HSUS. “People are still going to desktop to give but this is a big step,” said Wilson, who manages the monthly giving program, working with DRTV, face-to-face, and online.
Wilson shared the statistics during a session titled “Making Mobile Work For Fundraising” during the Bridge To Integrated Marketing & Fundraising Conference earlier this year at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Md.
HSUS struggles with premium versus non-premium donors in its files, according to Wilson. A print ad campaign focused on puppy mills to acquire monthly donors slated for New York City’s subway system was considered too controversial for the MTA but it did run on New Jersey Transit and did just fine.
Instead, HSUS advertised a disaster relief kit on the subway that donors would receive if they became monthly sustainers. The nonprofit registered an average sustainer gift of $10.74, with an overall pledge rate of 14 percent, including 5.5 percent credit card sustainers. Using the control on NJ Transit, the overall pledge rate was 15 percent, with 5 percent credit card sustainers, and a higher average sustainer gift of $13.
The Bella born in a cage campaign featured a striking image at the point of her rescue and offered a free tote to sustaining donors. On NJ Transit, the campaign had a 19 percent pledge rate, including 9.4 percent sustainers, with an average gift of $11.67.
