Blackbaud

If you had to guess how much charitable giving grew in 2012, what would you say? What about online fundraising? 5 percent … 10 percent … 15 percent … 30 percent … more? Ok, now that’s I’ve got you thinking. Based on our fundraising research, charitable giving grew by 1.7 percent in 2012 — nothing to write home about. On the bright side, small nonprofits grew by 7.3 percent and online fundraising crushed it. Check out the full charitable giving report here. Let’s look at how online fundraising continues to take root.

Steve MacLaughlin, director of Blackbaud's Idea Lab, shares five key findings from the 2012 Charitable Giving Report.

Blackbaud released a Charitable Giving Report, featuring the sector’s first look at how nonprofit fundraising performed in 2012. The report draws from The Blackbaud Index, which tracks $8 billion in U.S.-based charitable giving on a monthly basis to provide the largest analysis of overall and online giving trends in the nonprofit sector. It found that overall giving continued its slow recovery and grew approximately 2 percent in 2012.

As we anticipate trends impacting nonprofits in 2013, “fundraising isn’t expected to significantly increase” rises to the top. UnderDeveloped, a recent report from CompassPoint, examines fundraising trends from a different direction, from within nonprofit organizations. How are development staffs set up for success? Who is doing the heavy lifting? What are the expectations?

Knowing that fundraising is expect to carry on as is this year and that across the nonprofit sector, experience and turnover are challenges, nonprofits need to prepare. Your nonprofit likely should consider the following …

The ease and convenience of using mobile technology — combined with the extraordinary communications and networking potential of social media — will enable nonprofits to engage potential donors and grow their revenues at a pace never before experienced.

The question today is not whether a charity should use social media, but how it should use the information that supporters are sharing on social media to attract more people to its mission and increase fundraising. The answer to the question lies in understanding social media constituents and identifying which ones are the most “social” — those who best interact with and influence others across their online networks — because, while each constituent is a potential donor, some are more adept at spreading the word and energising others.

The reports listed below are just a small sampling of the research available to nonprofits about online communications and fundraising, social media, and mobile technology. These reports are, however, some of the most valuable in terms of insight, useful and practical data, and how-to advice.

No matter how you decide to handle year-end gifts, the best things you can do are to create a policy, document it and be consistent.

Blackbaud shared trends that will have the biggest impact on the nonprofit sector in 2013: charitable giving is not likely to grow much; a revaluing of the nonprofit sector will occur; technology will play an increasingly important role for both organizations and supporters; and the world will continue to shrink as philanthropic borders broaden.

The Blackbaud Index of Charitable Giving, which reports overall giving trends of 3,039 U.S.-based nonprofit organizations representing $7.9 billion in yearly giving on a monthly basis, reported that charitable giving increased 1.7 percent for the three months ending November 2012 compared to the same period in 2011. The Blackbaud Index of Online Giving, comprised of actual revenue data from 1,984 nonprofits representing $373 million in yearly online giving, reported that online giving rose 13.3 percent for the same period.