The recently released Nonprofit Donor Engagement Benchmark Study aims to reveal key insights about donors' motivations to help organizations gain a better understanding about what drives giving behaviors. The report was compiled by Charity Dynamics and the Nonprofit Technology Network as a way to identify key factors that influence donors' decisions.

For example, the study looked at individuals' preferences between traditional and digital interactions and researched when they chose to volunteer, give money or otherwise provide support. Annaliese Hoehling, publications director for NTEN said this information can help organizations determine the best ways to appeal to donors, 47 percent of which tend to give the majority of contributions to their top charity.

"Nonprofits that make donor engagement part of a long-term strategy that's integrated into all of their constituent outreach activities definitely stand to benefit most in terms of giving, participation and overall support," said Donna Wilkins, founder and president of Charity Dynamics.

As foundations tap into emerging digital channels to raise funds online, they can benefit from nonprofit fundraising software that tracks incoming donations and quantitatively measures the success of their efforts.