“2013 really showed that the fundraising environment is continuing to improve for the vast majority of organizations,” said Steve MacLaughlin, co-author of the Charitable Giving Report and director of Blackbaud’s Idea Lab. “The combination of growth across organizations of all sizes and a reversal of negative trends by all sectors contributed to a positive year.”
Helping to drive that growth, according to the Report, was a recovering economy and a focus on fundraising fundamentals, including: investment in fundraising capacity and attention to cultivating major donors, using data to better understand and segment donors, refining communications, focusing on impact, and making more effective use of technology.
Key findings from the Charitable Giving Report include:
Overall giving by size and sector
Fundraising by large organizations, with annual total fundraising more than $10 million, was up by 5.7 percent. This was a significant rebound from 2012 and was the highest growth rate among organizations in the analysis. Medium organizations, with annual total fundraising between $1 million and $10 million, had an increase of 3.8 percent in 2013 while small nonprofits, with annual total fundraising less than $1 million, grew their fundraising 3.6 percent.
Every sector had year-over-year fundraising growth in 2013. This includes strong growth by environment and animal welfare organizations, as well as education institutions. Healthcare, human services, international affairs and public and society organizations all returned to positive growth compared to 2012. This indicates strong momentum heading into 2014, especially for some sectors that have struggled in recent years.
Online giving by size and sector
Nonprofit organizations of all sizes grew their online giving in 2013, and their growth rates exceeded 2012 growth levels across the board. Small nonprofits grew their online fundraising 18.4 percent, medium nonprofits had a year-over-year increase of 11.3 percent and large organizations grew by 12.7 percent.
Online giving to faith-based organizations grew the most in 2013. Healthcare, education and environment and animal welfare organizations also had very positive online giving growth in 2013. Arts and culture, public and society benefit, and medical research nonprofits had single-digit growth rates in 2013. This reflects the trend in overall giving to these types of organizations.