Study: Dems more likely to donate to presidential campaigns online and via text

Just 10 percent of American adults who have contributed to President Obama or GOP challenger Mitt Romney have sent their campaign donations via text message, according to a study released Thursday by the Pew Internet and American Life Project.

Although the Federal Election Commission this summer allowed campaigns to accept donations sent via text message, Pew found that 67 percent of Americans still opted to give money to the presidential campaigns by sending checks in the mail or donating in person or through other offline methods. That being said, of the 13 percent of Americans who have donated to Obama or Romney this election cycle, half of them gave money online or via email.

For the study, Pew surveyed 2,010 people during two separate rounds in late September. As a caveat, that's a little over a month after the Obama and Romney campaigns began accepting campaign donations of up to $50 per month via text message.

But the study had another unique finding. Pew observed that Democrats were more likely than Republicans to donate to a presidential campaign online or via their cellphones. Around 57 percent of Democratic donors gave money to a candidate via email or online, while 34 percent of Republicans did the same.

The same pattern was true for campaign giving via cellphone, with 15 percent of Democratic donors reporting that they contributed to a presidential campaign via text message or mobile application, according to Pew. Just 6 percent of Republicans gave the same answer.

Pew reported that 87 percent of Republican donors said they donated money to a presidential campaign via traditional snail mail, over the telephone or in person. Pew said it limited its survey to presidential campaign donations because "few (if any) congressional or state-level candidates currently accept mobile donations at this time."

While campaign giving via text message is still a new capability, Pew noted that it's a common way for people to make charitable donations. A Pew study from January found that one in 10 adults in the U.S. have used text messaging to donate to a charitable cause.