Report: Online Giving Continues to Outpace Traditional Giving as Donors Shift Channels

(Press release, Feb. 3, 2015) — Leveraging findings from The Blackbaud Index, Blackbaud Inc. released its Charitable Giving Report, providing the nonprofit sector with the latest data on overall and online charitable giving in 2014, as well insight from industry experts and case studies. The report includes overall giving data from nearly 5,000 nonprofit organizations representing $16.2 billion in total fundraising and online giving data from nearly 4,000 nonprofits representing $2 billion in online fundraising from 2014.

• Download the report: www.blackbaud.com/charitablegiving

"Blackbaud's analysis of over $16.2 billion in actual giving data found that charitable giving increased for the third consecutive year in the United States," said Steve MacLaughlin, presenter of the Charitable Giving Report and director of Analytics at Blackbaud.

MacLaughlin added that, "we continue to see that donors are shifting to giving online at a particularly strong growth rate."

For more in-depth analysis, view Steve MacLaughlin's recent blog at npengage.com/nonprofit-fundraising/the-2014-charitable-giving-report/.

Key observations from the Charitable Giving Report include:

• Overall giving grew approximately 2.1 percent in 2014
• Online giving grew 8.9 percent in 2014 compared to 2013
• Online donations were 6.7 percent of all fundraising in 2014
• Small organizations had the greatest increase in overall fundraising in 2014
• Higher education institutions had the greatest increase in online giving during 2014

According to the report, 2014 may represent the new normal in giving. Unlike 2013 and 2012, there was a noted absence of the high-profile episodic events that previously drove an increase in giving. An accelerating economy fueled the stock market to new highs in 2014 ,and fears of changes to the charitable deduction never materialized.