• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, November 13, 2014

When it comes to igniting consumer activism and advocacy, social media reigns supreme. And new research from Cone Communications reports that simply clicking a “like” or “follow” button makes people 65% more likely to donate or volunteer for a cause.

The majority of U.S. consumers — 58% — think tweeting or posting information about a cause is an effective form of support.

Gen Y is far more likely to use their social media channels to talk about issues they care about, at about 71%, compared with an average of 52%. And after learning more about a given issue online, 80% of Millennials say that they are more apt to support it.

Hispanics are considerably more likely to rely on mobile apps to learn more about issues (79% vs. 56% U.S. average), as well as researching ingredients or components in products (77% vs. 57% for the general sample.)

Women are far more likely to use Pinterest. Millennials are twice as apt to use Tumblr. And Baby Boomers vastly prefer Facebook, with only minimal participation on other channels.

And in what might be called the Kickstarter effect, while 47% of those in Cone’s research say they prefer to give to nonprofits, 18% would rather put money directly in the hands of an individual, while 12% would prefer to donate to a corporate campaign devoted to an environment or social issue.

And for actual donations, digital continues to gain ground. Only 23% of respondents had sent donations through regular mail in the last 12 months, while 27% had made a gift online, and 11% had used their phone.

Holiday appeals are losing steam. Instead, most people are inclined to give when asked, or after a disaster. Only 12% say they time gifts for the end of the year.

Still, the online survey, based on some 1,200 adults, found a considerable gap between what people say they would like to do to help organizations and causes, and what they actually follow through on.

Noting the tremendous popularity of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, writes Alison DaSilva, executive vice president, Cone Communications, the gap is due in part to causes asking for too little — passive activities such as a simple “like” or watching a video.

She says the Ice Bucket Challenge is proof that “Americans stand ready, willing and able to engage online in a variety of ways – if given the opportunity. Digital engagement around social and environmental issues allows everyone to be an activist, a philanthropist, and a hero. The challenge for organizations is to convert that click of a button into a powerful gateway for deeper impact.”

People say they are more inclined to respond to appeals that make them feel their participation will make an impact (79%); where the need is urgent and immediate (79%); participating is easy (77%); when the cause is relevant to them in a personal way (74%); that it has some sort of emotional component (68%), and finally, that it allows them to share it across their social media networks (57%).