News/Stats/Studies

Battles between charities and the watchdog groups that help donors decide where to give escalated last week when a major trade association released drafts of two reports by scholars who say the watchdogs may do more harm than good.

The studies, paid for and released by the Direct Marketing Association’s Nonprofit Federation at a meeting here, charge that the watchdog groups use evaluation systems that are confusing and simplistic.

Baby Boomers and older donors are the most valuable givers and mainly give through the mail to nonprofits, which should focus their fundraising spending on the donors and giving channels that generate the biggest return now and perform the best, a new study says.

And donors prefer to give to charities that spend money on good management and fundraising, says Heart of the Donor: Insights into Donor Motivation and Behavior for the 21^st Century.

This week's insider news includes new software for Sept. 11 Day of Service and social media, plus new hires.

Cathy Pharoah, director of the Centre for Charitable Giving and Philanthropy, says direct mail remains 'hugely important.' One-third of people who make donations to charity are prompted to do so by receiving direct mail from the organisation in the post, according to a survey by delivery company TNT. The poll of 2,000 British adults found that 57 per cent of those who respond to mail appeals do so by post. It also found that 10 per cent of respondents would use information sent through the post to find out more about a charity, but 87 per cent of

A recent survey of donors by marketing firms Russ Reid and Grey Matter Re & Consulting resulted in numerous insights about how donors think and give. The survey asked about many aspects of the respondents' giving patterns, including donating in response to the appeal for funds in the wake of the Haiti earthquake earlier this year. For those of us who have been thinking hard about disaster giving recently, these data are helpful in answering the question of who might give in these situations, to what, and by what channels. Here are the points from the study about giving

Two studies commissioned by the Direct Marketing Association Nonprofit Federation say watchdog groups' ratings of charities suffer from big flaws that could do big damage to charities. In response, chief executives of three watchdogs cited in the research papers, which they say they have not seen, say their groups provide a critical service in holding charities accountable. One study, by George E. Mitchell, research assistant with the Transnational NGO Initiative at the Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs at Syracuse University, says the three big watchdog agencies providing ratings that are widely seen as measures of organizational effectiveness or accountability

Household income and education levels are usually the key elements fund raisers use to figure out who is most likely to give, but it turns out something else is more important: whether a potential donor’s parents were involved in charitable causes.

According to a GuideStar report, 40 percent of respondents saw further declines in contributions in the first five months of 2010, while 63 percent saw an increase in demand for their services, putting even more pressure on fundraisers.

A new research study was released today that may change the way many nonprofits approach their fundraising budgets. The report, Heart of the Donor: Insights Into Donor Motivation and Behavior for the 21st Century, uncovers valuable insights on donor behavior and preferences as well as insight into age, demographics and other factors.

With the battle over whether to extend the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy shaping up as the major political event of the fall, opponents of repeal were handed a bounteous gift this summer when Bill Gates, Warren Buffett and 38 others announced that they formed a pact to give at least half their wealth to charity. After all, what better illustration could there be of the great social good that wealthy people can do when the government lets them keep their hard-earned dollars to spend as they please? The problem is that the exceptional philanthropy of the superwealthy