Nonprofit fundraising is showing shoots of recovery per latest survey

The most difficult times for nonprofit fundraising seem to be behind us as in keeping with other reports a new one just published confirms that the trend of declining revenues seen in 2008-9 has finally been reversed. The good news is however tempered with more than a hint of concern as more nonprofits than in recent times expect to only match the previous years funding. The report compiled by the NRC (Nonprofit Research Collaborative).

While the news isn’t exceptionally encouraging it does firm up the confidence that things are beginning to return to growth although every piece of research shows that positive change is still extremely slow in coming as the overall economic stability is still very much in question. The facts are that 52% of those surveyed announced that they met their fundraising goals in 2010 which was almost the exact same figure (53%) reported in a different survey for 2009, while donor giving hasn’t continued to decline, the growth, if any has generally been smaller than had been hoped for. The data was compiled from surveying more than 1,600 nonprofits of all types and size.

The more positive data was that 2/3 (67%) said they had either raised more funds (43%) or essentially the same amount (24%) as in 2009. By way of comparison as many as 69% of organizations were reporting overall increases in funding five years ago prior to the recession. Diversifying the methods and ideas behind fundraising methodologies such as lotteries, online fundraising and social media use were each seen as critical steps to stimulate growth during 2010. Of all nonprofits offering online fundraising as an option its worth noting that they were far more successful at increasing funding with 58% seeing an increase over 2009. While the report breaks down the results based on the different sectors of fundraising, no single gap was as significant the apparent benefits being found from promoting online fundraising.

I anticipate seeing more detailed survey in the coming months that not only look at the overall trend in fundraising but also the different tactics being used. While the last few years have been difficult I do think that the return to better times will be greatly enhanced by nonprofits who are adopting new technology and social media in abundance and leading the curve. At present other reports say that nonprofits are lagging behind other sectors of industry in using these new tools, efforts must be increased to close that gap to follow the potential audience transitions.

Please follow this link to read the full report that has been released by the Nonprofit Research Collaborative.

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