Nonprofits Received 1.7 Cents for Every Fundraising Message Delivered and 60 Cents for Every Website Visit in 2013

Washington, D.C., April 9, 2014 – Even though response rates for nonprofit emails continued to slide in 2013, online giving was up as email and social media audiences and web traffic kept climbing, according to a new comprehensive study released today of 53 of the country’s leading nonprofits including: UNICEF, Sierra Club, Planned Parenthood, AARP, Feeding America and the Human Rights Campaign.

Now in its eighth year, the 2014 M+R Benchmarks Study, cosponsored by NTEN, analyzes the data that matters most to nonprofit online programs. The goal of the Study is to set benchmarks that help nonprofits measure their online performance, track progress, and guide strategy with an eye toward more effective fundraising and advocacy.

Here are 8 big trends that emerged from the nonprofits we surveyed:

1. The average one-time online donation amount to a nonprofit was $68 in 2013.
2. Nonprofit organization email lists grew significantly – up 14% in 2013.
3. Online donations were higher than ever before. Online giving was up 14% in 2013, with monthly giving revenue up 25% compared to 2012. Monthly giving accounted for 16% of all online revenue.
4. Nonprofits received $17 for every 1,000 email messages delivered. Overall, email accounted for about one-third of nonprofits’ online fundraising revenue.
5. Nonprofits received $0.60 per website visitor.
6. Key email metrics, including open rates and response rates, declined in 2013. Email open rates were down 4%. Response rates were down in 2013 for both fundraising emails (down 11%) and advocacy emails (down 25%) compared to 2012 levels. Interestingly, the response rates to advocacy emails from Environmental nonprofits were more than two times higher than overall response rates for advocacy emails.
7. More people visited nonprofit websites. Monthly website traffic for the nonprofits in the study was up 16% in 2013.
8. Nonprofit social media audiences grew faster than nonprofit email or website audiences. Facebook fans were up 37% and Twitter followers were up 46% in 2013. Despite this rapid growth, for every 1,000 email subscribers nonprofits had just 199 Facebook fans and 110 Twitter followers.

To read the full study and view all the charts, please visit: mrbenchmarks.com.