Online Fundraising Continues to Grow

The 2012 eNonprofit Benchmarks Study – a comprehensive new analysis of various U.S. nonprofits – showed nonprofit online fundraising grew for a second year in a row, driven largely by an increase in gifts to rights-based nonprofits. While the response rates to fundraising email messages stayed fairly consistent for nonprofits in 2011, the average rates of new Facebook fans, mobile subscribers, and people who took action from an advocacy email soared.

Key Findings include:

• Overall fundraising revenue saw extensive gains with an average increase of 19% from 2010 to 2011. International sector organizations – which saw a spike in fundraising due to high profile aid needs in 2010 – represent the only sector that saw a decrease in online revenue from 2010 to 2011.
• While one-time gifts remained the largest source of online revenue from participants, online revenue from monthly giving is growing at a much faster rate.
• Annual list churn was 19%.
• Nonprofit Facebook fan bases have seen phenomenal growth between 2010 and 2011, with the average nonprofit increasing its fan base by 70%.

The complete study is available here (free registration required).