An Interview with Fanny Villiers, Directora General of Donadora – an official partner of the Global Trends in Giving Report (en español).
1) Access to the internet in Mexico has grown very rapidly over the last decade. How has this impacted individual giving to NGOs in Mexico? Is online giving growing rapidly as well?
Online giving is growing as fast as e-commerce. When we started Fondeadora in 2011 (the first creative crowdfunding platform in Mexico, renamed to Donadora in 2016), processing online payments was very difficult. Online payment providers were very few and completion rates were barely reaching 50%. Today, we are able to offer four different payment methods online and we’re working with different providers to offer the best success rate possible to our donors (>90%).
The trust factor in Mexico is also determinant. Since Millennials and Gen Z are a growing proportion of the giving population, mistrust in online payments is decreasing. Older people are still doubtful about making a donation via credit card online, but donors below 40 years old are predominately giving online. Finally, digitalization is growing fast in Mexico. Our government is discussing providing free wifi throughout in Mexico City which is a very good sign for crowdfunding and even better for NGOs funding.
2) The Mexican data from the 2018 Global Trends in Giving Report paints a picture of the average individual donor in Mexico: She is under the age of 45, gives in micro-amounts ($100 USD annually), and most likely to be politically centrist-to-liberal. Does this data match what you see on the ground in Mexico?
Under 45 and giving micro-amounts is pretty much matching with our own analysis, but at Donadora we don’t measure political views of our community, so I can’t answer on this point.
3) What is the greatest obstacle that NGOs in Mexico need to overcome in order to raise more money online?
Trust and communication skills.
Trust because there is still significant fear about online payments and a lack of transparency by NGOs that dissuades Mexicans to give online. Mexican people are very generous in their private circle, but when it comes to philanthropy, the bad reputations of some of the large NGOs hinders the growth in online giving.
Also, online communication skills are lacking at many NGOs compared with the online marketing skills at e-commerce sites. At Donadora, work with NGOs to help them tell simple, but impact-full stories in order to inspire donors to give.
4) Tell the Nonprofit Tech for Good community about Donadora: Are the donors predominately Mexican? Can donors outside of Mexico give to campaigns on Donadora? What is your vetting process to ensure the money raised on Donadora is well spent? What is your favorite campaign on Donadora at this time?
Donadora donors are 93% from Mexico. The other 7% comes predominately from the US (where most Mexicans have relatives and connections), then from Spain, and the rest from throughout Latin america. Donors outside Mexico can definitely give to campaigns on Donadora, by credit card and Paypal (whereas in Mexico donors can also give through online transfer and cash deposit). Our vetting process is more preventive than punitive. Since we provide personalized training to all our campaign fundraisers, we develop a personal relationship with all of them. In addition, we have a strong administrative and legal process to ensure the funds received are used properly.
My favorite campaign at the time is Working Together for a Fairer Mexico. Fundar is a 20-year old Mexican NGO in the filed of research and advocacy to fight corruption, impunity, and to adovcate for human rights. It’s a highly recognized organisation that traditionally gets funded through institutional grants. For their first individual donations strategy, they chose Donadora. I’m very honored to work for them at the moment and I invite all our readers to visit their page and make a donation for a fairer Mexico:
5) Where do you see charitable giving in Mexico 10 years from now?
Mobile: 70% of our traffic comes from mobile. Charities need to adopt mobile-first solutions to collect online donations.
Video: The rising consumption of online video (Instagram and Facebook stories, Snapchat, etc.) are quickly replacing TV. Video is an opportunity for NGOs to gain a foothold in the media universe. Online marketing is way more affordable than analog and NGOs have the potential to occupy more of the online space by promoting the amazing work they do everyday.
Integrated into day-to-day NGO activities: Fundraising is often relegated to a “fundraising department” or “person,” however, in the future fundraising will soon be integrated into all operations and program activities.
Fanny Villiers es Directora General y co-fundadora de Donadora, la primera plataforma de crowdfunding de donaciones en México. Originaria de Francia, trabajó en la incubadora de innovación social Groupe SOS en París. Es titular de una Maestría en Management de EMLYON Business School en Francia. Colaboró con Fondeadora desde el 2014 y participó al lanzamiento de Kickstarter en México. Parte de sus retos en Fondeadora fue el desarrollo de Donadora, hoy plataforma B de fondeo colectivo para causas personales e iniciativas sociales.
Giving Trends in Mexico:
2018 Global Trends in Giving Report
★ 52% of donors in Mexico prefer to give online, 15% via PayPal, 15% in cash, 12% via bank transfer, and 4% via digital wallets.
★ 33% are enrolled in a monthly giving program.
★ 70% prefer to be thanked for their donations by email, 13% via social media, 8% via print postcard, 6% via print letter, 2% via text message, and 1% by phone call.
★ 10% donated on #GivingTuesday 2017, 26% did not. 64% have never heard of #GivingTuesday.
★ 18% of donors in Mexico give tribute gifts. The top three occasions are memorials (30%), birthdays (26%), and religious holidays (22%).
★ 51% donate to crowdfunding campaigns that benefit individuals. The top three causes are medical expenses (25%), start-up costs for a social enterprise (25%), and disaster relief (23%). Of those that give to crowdfunding campaigns, 25% say that they give less to NGOs due to their financial support of crowdfunding campaigns.
★ 31% are more likely to donate if they are offered a free gift in exchange for their donation.
★ 16% create online peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns to benefit organizations.
★ 27% give to organizations located outside of their country of residence.
★ 78% donate in response to natural disasters.
★ 9% have charitable giving in their last will and testament.
★ 72% of donors in Mexico are more likely to trust organizations that use the .org domain extension for website and email communications.
★ 42% are most inspired to give by social media, websites (23%), and email (19%). Of those inspired by social media, Facebook (54%) has the largest impact, then Twitter (21%) and Instagram (14%).
★ 9% have donated directly to an organization using Facebook Fundraising Tools. Of those, 100% said they are likely to donate through Facebook again.
★ 81% of donors in Mexico volunteer. 40% attend fundraising events. 26% attend marches or protests. 93% regularly vote. 83% sign online petitions.
About the Donors ✦ 144 donors whose top 5 causes are animals and wildlife (19%), children and youth (15%), environment (12%), education (9%), and community development (8%). 61% are female, 39% are male. 47% are Millennials, 36% Gen Xers, and 15% are Baby Boomers. 53% are micro-donors, 39% small, and 8% mid-size donors.
