News/Stats/Studies

Agencies that serve individuals with developmental disabilities continue to bring millions of dollars into the region’s economy, with four organizations achieving combined revenues of nearly $280 million last year.

Those four organizations, led by the $109.3 million People Inc., are among 248 organizations with combined revenues of $1.94 billion, according to the Business First 2010 Million Dollar Nonprofits research report.

A majority of big companies cut their giving in 2009, according to a study released Wednesday by the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy, in New York.

Fifty-nine percent of companies gave less last year, the study found, with 40 percent reducing their giving by at least 10 percent.

Those figures were based on 95 companies that provided data for both 2008 and 2009. Over all, the survey gathered information from 171 businesses.

Analyzing trends in the fundraising world is important on many levels. It lets you know what's happening in the industry, what that may mean for the future and how it compares to the past. Studying trends also lets you know where you stand compared to other organizations, allowing you to pinpoint what your organization is doing well and what it needs to work on.

Demand for services is rising fast for charities around the world—faster than donations are expected to increase this year or next, according to a new report released today by Blackbaud, the software company.

Most of the 2,383 charities from 10 countries that participated in the survey told researchers that demand was rising.

Women at every income level give to charity more often than men do—and they tend to donate more money on average than their male counterparts, according to a study released Thursday.

The study, conducted by researchers at the Women’s Philanthropy Institute at the Indiana University Center on Philanthropy, analyzed charitable-giving data from 8,000 American households.

Just over a third of American donors expect to give less during the final quarter of this year, according to a new survey.

The poll of 603 people who intend to give at least $200 this year found that 55 percent said they would give the same amount as in past years, while only 8 percent of respondents said they plan to give more.

The nonprofit investigative journalism world continues to expand with the announcement on Tuesday that the Center for Public Integrity will absorb the Huffington Post Investigative Fund, a nonprofit journalism arm of The Huffington Post. The move would bring the total headcount at the center to more than 50 employees, making it one of the largest nonprofit investigative newsrooms in the country.

Philanthropic investment in advocacy work yields big returns, a new report says.

Analyzing advocacy work by 20 local nonprofits in four states in the Pacific Northwest supported with a total of $23.2 million in foundation funding from 2007 to 2009, the report by the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy says those groups helped generated over $5 billion in benefits to poor and marginalized people.

Blackbaud announced the release of a report focused on fundraising trends based on monthly findings from The Blackbaud Index. The Blackbaud Index of Charitable Giving reports that overall revenue increased by 1.4% for the 3 months ending August 2010 as compared to the same period in 2009. The Blackbaud Index of Online Giving reports that overall revenue increased by 20.4% for the 3 months ending August 2010 as compared to the same period in 2009.

A new ranking of the nation's 400 biggest charities shows donations dropped by 11 percent overall last year as the Great Recession ended - the worst decline in 20 years since the Chronicle of Philanthropy began keeping a tally.

The Philanthropy 400 report shows such familiar names as the United Way and the Salvation Army, both based near Washington, continue to dominate the ranking, despite the 2009 declines. The survey accounts for $68.6 billion in charitable contributions.