What we've learnt from over 100,000 donations on Chuffed.org

In December 2012, when we first pitched the idea of Chuffed.org to the Telstra Foundation, our Big Hairy Audacious Goal was to raise $10 Million across our first five years of operation. I remember writing it in our presentation and thinking it was so outrageously large as to be unbelievable. At the time, we had no product, no traction and no customers.

Today, less than three years since we launched, this happened:

We are so proud of the thousands of campaigners who've chosen to use Chuffed.org to do everything from reuniting a refugee family who'd been separated for 23 years to helping stop coal seam gas exploration across Australia to getting a ban put on greyhound racing.

To celebrate, we decided to do something decidely geeky and delve into those 100,000+ donations to see what they could tell us about donors who give to crowdfunding campaigns.

Here's our five fun (and sometimes surprising facts):

Fact 1. Women give more than men

As a man writing this, I find this both highly unsurprising, but also a tiny bit disappointing for my gender. I've had so many debates about why this gender split happens, but if you've got any theories, drop them into the comments.

Fact 2: Online giving isn't a young person's thing

I hear far too often that the growth in crowdfunding is because millenials are all moving online and charities need to adapt so that they don't miss out on this next generation of donors. As it turns out, that's not quite true. Charities need to learn how to crowdfund because the majority of their middle age and older donors prefer it.

Fact 3: People anywhere in the world are happy to give to your campaign

Ok, so we're not holding our breath on North Korean donors flooding onto Chuffed.org, but hey, maybe one day. We've only run campaigns in 20 countries, yet donors have come from 152. The fact that your campaign can be based out of a country town and get donors from dozens of countries around the world - that's what excites us.

Fact 4: Thursday's the day for giving

Alright, we're opening this one up for conspiracy theories. Maybe more people get paid on Thursday, maybe it's because it's nearly Friday, maybe it's the day I most like surfing for crowdfunding campaigns on the internet, but well, there's something noticeably more generous about Thursdays.

Fact 5: People love a bit of pre-bedtime donating

This is probably my favourite. Right before bed, people pull out their phones, and well, donate. We suspect that they saw it at work when they got in - the 9am peak, check before they go to bed, notice that the donation total has jumped up, get FOMO, and grab their credit card.

Thank you again from all of us here at Chuffed.org. We can't thank you enough for believing in the dream and trusting us with your projects. Can't wait for the next ten million.

- Prashan, Seb, Dave, Bec and the Chuffed.org family

PS, if you have better theories on these donor behaviour stats, tell us in the comments below