9 Key Findings on Nonprofit Fundraising and Status from Sector Monitoring Report

Those of us working within nonprofit fundraising are fortunate to have quite a bit of data sources that analyze various stats to provide insight into the past, present and future performance of our industry. Reports like the World Giving Index 2011, The 2011 Study of High Net Worth Women’s Philanthropy and The Impact of Women’s Giving Networks Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 as well as the 2011 State of the Nonprofit Industry Survey by Blackbaud are good examples of the variety of reports that are available. Although the majority of these reports are based on data from US charities, the trends they reflect are helpful to all for 2 reasons: 1) we all share many similarities with our American counterparts; and 2) thanks to technology, a global marketplace is accessible making it good to stay abreast of what is going on elsewhere. Same can be said for reports based on data from the Canadian nonprofit sector.

Imagine Canada, a national charitable organization whose mission includes supporting and strengthening Canadian charities and nonprofits, has released their 5th edition of the Sector Monitor Report. The research conducted November 3rd to December 2nd 2011, was based on a survey of 2,255 participating leaders in the nonprofit fundraising sector. The sampling size has expanded and is now almost doubled from the most recent survey conducted in mid 2011.

The tone in the results of this study are remarkably similar to those of previous US reports that I have featured: cautious optimism, a slight decline in expected growth and some continued increase in operating expenses. The 9 key findings of the Sector Monitor report include:

1. 51% are experiencing an increase in demand for product or services
2. 49% report having difficulty fulfilling their mission
3. 26% feel their organizations existence is at risk
4. 28% forecast having difficulty covering expenses within the next year
5. 49% are feeling some-high levels of stress
6. 4% decrease of organizations reporting an increase in revenues (from 26% to 22%) in comparison to the mid 2011 report
7. 49% report an increase in expenditures
8. 95% felt that demand for their product and services will remain unchanged over increase in the next 3 to 4 months
9. 77% of nonprofit leaders are not so optimistic about the near future, as they anticipate their charities performance to remain the same or be weaker and the number of those who felt that they would perform stronger dropped by 6%.

Although operating revenue is being reported as remaining the same, expenditures have increased over the previous year. This leads to an increase in financial pressure which means that the optimism that was reported in the 4th edition of the report has experienced a decline. What is encouraging to see in the report is that staffing levels have remained unchanged for the most part as paid staff and volunteers have remained the same (65% and 68% respectively). A good sign of cautious optimism by nonprofits and they realize the value of their people.

Some notable differences in the results include that only Prairie Provinces reported higher levels of not being stressed (67%) and also the smaller the organization, the higher the level of reported stress.

It’s clear that Canadian charities are experiencing the same challenges as charities in the US and worldwide. The current global economic conditions and uncertainties may account for the reduced optimism that was once reported in mid 2011. However fundraisers in the nonprofit sector are a resilient group and their supporters are passionate about the causes they support. With careful planning, effective resource management and steadfast determination, nonprofits will thrive in 2012. Hopefully that will be reflected in the 6th edition of this nonprofit fundraising report.
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Miratel Solutions is a Toronto call centre, eBusiness, and letter shop mail house specializing in professional fundraising services including telephone fundraising, online fundraising, lottery services, donation caging, donation processing and other donor management services. We are committed to our CSR business values in all contact centre services and mail house operations and advancing the missions of the nonprofits we proudly serve.