I am blessed to live in an area where the recession had much less impact than it did in other regions. Certainly the recession hit us here, especially psychologically. However, I keep hearing people lament their lack of fundraising success and blaming it on the economy. While the economy seems to be a little better everyday, media reports want to keep us on a continuous roller coasters. But, if "best practices" guide us, fundraisers will continue to be successful... no excuses.
There are a number of reports that come out each year that are benchmarks for the non-profit sector and fundraising. One is “Giving USA” from The Giving Initiative, which comes out later in the spring. Another is “The Charitable Giving Report” from the software firm Blackbaud. They are the largest software supplier in the industry.
he latter report was recently released and reinforces my thoughts. The report includes data from 2013, from 129 nonprofit organizations, representing $12.5 billion in total fundraising. The Report also includes online giving data from 3,359 nonprofits, representing $1.7 billion in online fundraising.
The bottom line of this latest report is that things are getting better for the economy and thus for our organizations. We have regained the steam we lost since the recession and we are now seeing growth for most organizations in most sectors. Here are some of Blackbaud’s talking points from the report:
I was a Blackbaud client for over 20 years, but I’m not particularly endorsing their products. But they have many useful tools on their website in addition to the report, including “The Blackbaud Index,” which tracks giving by the month. They may want your email address to get to some of the information, but I think it is worth it. Take a look at the full report by clicking here.
There are a number of reports that come out each year that are benchmarks for the non-profit sector and fundraising. One is “Giving USA” from The Giving Initiative, which comes out later in the spring. Another is “The Charitable Giving Report” from the software firm Blackbaud. They are the largest software supplier in the industry.
he latter report was recently released and reinforces my thoughts. The report includes data from 2013, from 129 nonprofit organizations, representing $12.5 billion in total fundraising. The Report also includes online giving data from 3,359 nonprofits, representing $1.7 billion in online fundraising.
The bottom line of this latest report is that things are getting better for the economy and thus for our organizations. We have regained the steam we lost since the recession and we are now seeing growth for most organizations in most sectors. Here are some of Blackbaud’s talking points from the report:
- Overall charitable giving grew 4.9% in 2013, while online giving grew 13.5%.
- Online giving accounted for 6.4% of all charitable giving in 2013.
- Large organizations had the greatest increase in overall charitable giving, while small nonprofits grew their online giving the most.
- International affairs organizations grew the most in overall charitable giving, while faith-based nonprofits had the biggest increase in online giving.
- More than one-third of overall charitable giving happens in the last three months of the year, with the highest percentage coming in December.
I was a Blackbaud client for over 20 years, but I’m not particularly endorsing their products. But they have many useful tools on their website in addition to the report, including “The Blackbaud Index,” which tracks giving by the month. They may want your email address to get to some of the information, but I think it is worth it. Take a look at the full report by clicking here.