Eventbrite Survey Explores What Motivates People to Donate or Volunteer

Press release (Nov. 5, 2012) — Eventbrite, the self-service registration and ticketing platform, announced a new survey revealing trends among Americans who support nonprofits with donations of time and money. The findings, drawn from a uSamp online survey of 1,772 American adults commissioned by Eventbrite, reveal that while 72 percent of those surveyed have supported a cause with a donation of time or money in the past year, only 21 percent describe themselves as being personally passionate about the cause they supported.

Other findings from the survey include:

• There is an even split between those who prefer to donate money and those who prefer to donate time: 41 percent of respondents prefer each. Others had no preference.
• The frequency with which people volunteer time is distributed: 12 percent volunteer a few times a week; 15 percent volunteer once a week; 14 percent volunteer once a month; and 22 percent volunteer every few months.
• The most popular motivation for people who do volunteer is the sense of "I feel like it's something I should do," which resonated with 25 percent of respondents. Other motivators include encouragement from a friend, family member or co-worker (10 percent), or supporting a cause that directly affected a friend, family or co-worker (13 percent).

The survey also reveals how eager people are to share information about nonprofit organizations on social media networks: 40 percent of Americans have shared information about a cause on Facebook in the past year. In addition, 14 percent of Americans have shared cause-related information on Twitter, and 8 percent of Americans have shared on Google+. In a recent Social Commerce Report, Eventbrite found that, on average, every time a person shares event information on Facebook, it drives an additional 14 visits back to that event page and $4.15 in additional revenue back to the organizer or fundraiser.