Individual Donor Fundraising Trends

Although the Foundation Directory Online is the go-to resource for foundation funding, a successful fundraising strategy for any organization is composed of a diverse set of revenue sources. Here is information on several recent surveys about fundraising from individual donors.

Some of the findings from a recent Blackbaud survey are expected: direct mail, one-on-one solicitation of donors, and special events are seen as the top drivers of donations to organizations.

Perhaps more intriguing is this Dunham and Company survey,
which investigates the relationship between direct mail and online giving. Just a few of the interesting findings:
•14% of respondents stated that they gave online as a result of direct mail, compared to only 6% of those who gave after receiving an e-mail
•As expected, most younger donors are giving online as a response to direct mail, but 1 in 4 baby boomers are as well
•15% of respondents said their online gift was prompted by being asked to give by someone through a social media site. This number jumped to 24% for donors under the age of 40.

The Blackbaud survey also found that overall revenue from online giving during the last three month period ending in August is up by 20.4% from the same period last year. However, its respondents also reported that e-mail was the top driver of online donations last year, followed by direct mail. Though this initially seems to contradict the findings of the other survey, it is important to keep in mind that one surveyed nonprofit organizations, while the other surveyed individual donors, and neither were completely comprehensive in their scope.

An Indiana University Center on Philanthropy study found that women are generally more charitable than men — with a few exceptions, women at almost all income levels were more likely to give and to give more than men. These findings have already spurred conversation on why this may (or may not) be important. Additional results detailing what types of organizations women gave to are due out in December or January.

These findings, although not entirely surprising, but they further illustrate the need to constantly re-evaluate your fundraising strategy, critically looking at what is and isn't working.

For more resources on fundraising planning, be sure to visit the Foundation Center’s GrantSpace, where you can find podcasts, webinars, answers to frequently asked questions, and much more!