Nonprofit Fundraising survey by Sage shows optimism returning for 2011

We are already almost two full months into 2011 and now one of the first significant surveys about expectations for nonprofit fundraising for this year has been released. Sage North America this week published the findings from its just completed Sage Nonprofit Insights for the first quarter of 2011 and overall the findings are rather encouraging. The very gradual return of some economic stability is driving some of the optimism while changes in tax laws just announced and contracting government funding each hamper the news from being exceptionally good.

The survey which studies US nonprofits showed that on balance organizations are expecting with cautious optimism that nonprofit fundraising results this year will be in an improvement over 2010. I would not have expected the results to be quite as positive myself but the survey states that 90 percent expect results in 2011 to match or improve upon last year’s final figures. What I did expect and the survey reflects is that nonprofits will be ramping up their efforts with regard to online fundraising this year, with just under half of those polled expecting the share donated online to increase during this year. The first quarter survey provide a variety of questions to gauge the views of nonprofits in the US concerning fundraising, government funding, new legislation and tax exemptions. The landscape has changed dramatically in recent months for organizations in terms of government funding as Krista Endsley senior vice president and GM for Sage explains:

“While signs point to a more positive outlook on fundraising, it’s clear that nonprofit organizations are still cautious and concerned, particularly as the state budget crisis and the ‘ARRA cliff’ continue to unfold. We’re entering a time where diversification of funding sources and increasing attention to individual donors will be key for many groups looking to mitigate potential declines in government funding and contracts.”

Some of the findings from the report I found to be quite startling, especially the overall optimism about this year which is fantastic to see but also the fact that many organizations are still at the very earliest stages of diversification toward online fundraising, in some cases the journey hasn’t even begun. Some 23 percent of organizations surveyed stated that none of their fundraising for 2010 was online, whilst a further 51 percent stated that it contributed less than five percent to the overall successes last year. Just 12 percent stated that more than 10 percent of fundraising came via online sources. Those numbers are certain to change in the coming years.

Government funding seems to be the largest cause for concern with essentially half of respondents anticipating a decline in that type of revenue, while 85 percent stated that the changes in the political environment will have at least a degree of effect on their funding this year. Just under three quarters of all respondents said that they were somewhat or very concerned that the next two years may bring revocations of some tax exemptions for nonprofits.

Countering many of these fears is an underlying current of optimism as evidenced by the following numbers when asked to predict their fundraising targets for 2011.

• 44 percent expect funding to increase versus 2010 compared with 34 percent a year ago
• 46 percent expect funding to be about the same versus 2010 compared with 36 percent a year ago
• 11 percent expect funding to decrease versus 2010 compared with 29 percent a year ago

That marks a huge movement of optimism this year which I interpret as reflecting two things, firstly that the initial results in 2011 are far exceeding how things began in 2010 but also it’s probably a reflection of just how difficult last year’s results were for many nonprofits.

The summary of the report makes for interesting reading and runs at just six pages so it’s easy to digest and informative, you can find the entire report by following this link.

Sage Nonprofit Solutions have over 30 years experience in serving nonprofit and government organizations and provide technology services to more than 32,000 nonprofit organizations. You can learn more about them here.

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