News/Stats/Studies

Driven largely by giving to international disasters, online fundraising grew 14 percent in 2010 after falling in 2009, a new report says. Excluding international online giving, which grew 163 percent, online fundraising grew 10 percent, says the 2011 eNonprofit Benchmarks Study by M+R Strategic Services and NTEN.

Based on data from 40 nonprofits, the report also says the response rate for fundraising e-mail fell 19 percent on average to 0.08 percent in 2010, while the response rate to advocacy e-mail fell 7 percent on average to 3.3 percent.

The State of the Plate survey of more than 1,500 churches across the country found 43 percent saw an increase in giving. On the other hand, 39 percent of the churches surveyed actually saw their giving decrease, perhaps many believe in this uncertain economy they can't afford to give.

A recent study, “Harnessing Corporate Philanthropy to Educate the World’s Poor,” conducted by the Center for Universal Education finds that every year, American corporations contribute nearly half a billion dollars for education in developing countries. This estimate shows that, in the aggregate, U.S. corporations constitute a significant source of financial resources for education in developing countries. In fact, they are the 7th largest donor after the World Bank, France, Germany, United States, Netherlands and Japan.

Fundraisers have long worried about a possible downside to corporate-charity marketing deals — that people who buy a special brand of yogurt or computer or stuffed animal because a retailer promises to give a small percentage of the purchase price to a good cause will figure they have met their charitable obligation and not give as much in direct donations.

It turns out the worries are warranted, according to new research from the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business. 

Almost half of U.K. cultural organizations believe it will take 10 to 20 years for philanthropy in the arts to benefit the industry at the desired level, according to new research published by Arts Quarter.

In December, culture secretary Jeremy Hunt announced plans to promote philanthropy to give the arts a boost in financial support. But only 11.5 percent of organizations see the “agenda being realised and effective within the lifetime of this current parliament."

Best Friends Animal Society and Susan G. Komen for the Cure are the two most-trusted nonprofit name brands in the country, according to the 2011 Harris Poll Equitrend study, conducted by Harris Interactive, a market-research firm.

The two organizations were followed by Shriners Hospitals for Children and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, which tied for No. 3 in the poll.

Giving to churches rebounded slightly in 2010 after two years of steep decline, but churches fear efforts to trim tax breaks for charitable donations could be an obstacle to the post-recession recovery, according to a new study.

Some 43 percent of churches say their donations increased in 2010, according to the survey of 1,500 church leaders. Only 36 percent of the groups reported gains in 2009.

Oasis Center and Stars Nashville both work with troubled youths, so on one level the two Nashville charities are natural competitors. But they are also collaborators. The two organizations jointly raised $8-million for the facility that they share, and they have deepened their bonds since moving into the building in February 2009.

The partnership between the charities exemplifies a trend that the Bridge­span Group, a nonprofit consulting organization, noticed in its latest survey of how charity leaders have coped with the economic downturn and the tepid recovery.

Connected Texas released its first assessment of the broadband market in Texas, revealing that nearly all households in Bexar County have terrestrial broadband service availability. The nonprofit organization is working with various entities, including the Texas Department of Agriculture, to increase the availability of terrestrial broadband in Texas. Bexar County ranked among the more connected counties with 99.94 percent of households able to get broadband service with speeds faster than 768 Kbps and 99.93 percent having access to service with speeds at least 3 Mbps.

Bill Gates, the college dropout who started the world's richest charitable fund, said needy people depend on self-made millionaires and billionaires to donate money before passing their wealth on to less-generous heirs.

"Our experience worldwide is that first-generation wealth is actually more generous than dynastic wealth," Gates, the richest American, said Thursday in a news conference in New Delhi. "Both here in India and U.S. and other countries, the biggest givers are those who are receivers of first-generation wealth."