The most recent M+R Benchmarks Study has been released. As always, it’s jam packed with lots of insightful information that will help you better understand the online world and how it works for nonprofits.

154 nonprofits participated in the study and contributed data for the 2017 calendar year.

They analyzed the results of almost 4.7 billion email messages sent to over 53 million list subscribers; 528 million web visits; more than $738 million of online revenue from nearly 12 million donations; and 17 million advocacy actions.

Key findings:

 Online revenue for nonprofits increased by 10% in 2019. After a couple of years of extreme volatility after the 2016 election, this falls in line with the long-term growth trajectory.

 Digital ad spending grew by 16%, with a third of the year’s ad spending occurring in December. Direct fundraising efforts accounted for 43% of ad budgets.

 Facebook generated 3.5% of all online nonprofit revenue, due almost entirely to the impact of peer-to-peer Facebook Fundraisers. For the Health sector, Facebook contributions accounted for nearly 10% of all online revenue.

 Half of all nonprofit website visitors used mobile devices, though desktop users still accounted for the majority of transactions and revenue. The balance of traffic, transactions, and revenue continues to shift toward mobile users.

 Email list sizes declined slightly, while fundraising email response rates increased slightly. If you’ve been spending time maintaining good list hygiene and honing in on your most committed audiences, you aren’t alone.

The complete findings are available to explore for free at mrbenchmarks.com.