Charitable Giving Recovery Mirrors Slow Economic Recovery
Average Online Giving Accounts for 7% of Charitable Revenue
Blackbaud released its 2012 Charitable Giving Report this week that confirmed what we are all experiencing: charitable giving is slowly recovering but have not yet recovered to pre-recession levels. The report benchmarks Year-Over-Year growth data by sector for all fundraising channels. We’re looking forward to M+R Strategic Services/NTEN’s annual release of benchmark data at the NTC in April that benchmarks online metrics such as open rates, click-through rates, and social media.
The takeaway from this week’s report for us online denizens:
- Online giving grew 10.7% in 2012 compared to 2011. Large organizations grew by 7.2%, medium sized organizations grew 14.3%, and small nonprofits grew 11.8% on a year-over-year basis.
- The impact of double-digit growth in online fundraising is reduced by the fact that it still represents less than 10% of total fundraising revenue. Overall giving is still dominated by traditional offline channels, in particular direct mail, where fundraising performance has not returned to pre-recession levels.
Blackbaud’s Summary included:
- Overall giving continued its slow recovery and grew approximately 2% in 2012.
- Online giving grew by about 11% in 2012 compared to 2011.
- Online fundraising was 7% of all giving in 2012, an increase from 2011.
- Small nonprofits had the greatest increase in overall fundraising in 2012 while medium-sized organizations led online.
- Giving throughout 2012 hovered on flat, and Superstorm Sandy relief efforts helped boost year-end fundraising.
The report is chock-full of macro visuals and data. Check it out: 2012 Charitable Giving Report.
