Social media campaigns have helped charities reach a greater audience more than TV and word-of-mouth initiatives. The online audience has responded and quite generously most of the time.
A recent survey by Mashable found 64 percent of social media users donated more than $100 to a charitable cause in the last year. Only 6.5 percent had given no money.
LinkedIn users were the most generous with 70.5 percent donating more than $100. The social network also has an older and wealthier demographic. Nearly 60 percent are 35 years or older and 38 percent have a household income of more than $100 thousand, according to Quantcast.
The numbers dropped for actual time contributed to a charitable cause. An average of 23 percent invested no time. A healthy 43 percent did say they gave more than 10 hours of their time to a cause.
LinkedIn users again ruled with nearly 49 percent donating more than 10 hours of their time. Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest users all averaged about 42 percent contributors to put in 10 or more hours.
The SurveyMonkey Audience survey questioned more than 1,000 U.S. adults, age 18 and older, who had at least one account to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, or Google+.
Charity campaigns and donation website on social media tend to attract more younger donors. A 2013 survey by Blackbaud, a non-profit technology provider, found more people from Generation Y (ages 18 to 32) make donations via their mobile devices compared to older generations who donate more through their workplaces.
The younger generation prefers children's and health charities and 57 percent want to see how their donation will make an impact, according to the Blackbaud study. They also share charity information more on Facebook and view more online videos about the charities they support.
