It’s 2017 and charitable giving is nothing new, but the different ways to give are constantly changing. Nonprofit organizations are more eager than ever to stay on-top of the latest giving trends. Everything online is just a click away, and charitable giving is next on the list to achieve that digital ease.
We know that isn’t always easy, so we wanted to share some insights from our partner, Blackbaud, over the changing ways of charitable giving. Every year, Blackbaud Institute for Philanthropic Impact tracks approximately $23 billion in US-based charitable giving—to provide one of the most credible resources on fundraising performance in the social good community.
So sit back.. and relax. Here are some key findings from their 2016 Charitable Giving Report:
1. Overall giving grew approximately 1.0% in 2016 – Whether it’s a small organization who made less than $1 million last year or a large organization who made more than $10 million, this study shows that overall giving grew in 2016 compared to 2015.
2. Online donations were 7.2% of all fundraising in 2016 – Nonprofits of all sizes showed an increase in online giving in 2016. Medium-sized nonprofits however, experienced double-digit growth. Nonprofits who made between $1 Million and $10 Million had a year-over-year increase of 11.4%.
3. 17% of online donations were made on a mobile device in 2016 – This is big because in 2014 only 9% of online donations were made on mobile. The peak of mobile giving in 2016 was in August with 20.1% making up all online donations. As much as we would like to predict the best times for mobile giving, it is clear to us that being “mobile friendly” is no longer optional for nonprofits.
No matter what size the nonprofit organization, this report has clearly shown that there was serious growth of online giving in 2016.. and it’s only going to continue growing! Not only did donors give more in 2016, the amount they gave was higher too. When analyzing significant donations Blackbaud found that, “10% of online gifts were $1000 or more.” This is something to keep in mind when creating donation forms and other CTA that require a donation amount. You don’t want to scare donors away by asking for too large of an amount, but you also should consider the fact that people are now willing to donate more than $25.
Overall, a major takeaway of this report is that online giving is booming. Mobile donations make up a rapidly growing amount of online donations as well. We predict that mobile giving will become increasingly popular and widely used in the next few years, heck maybe even sooner than we think… One thing we do know is that online giving can be unpredictable at times but overall we see tons of potential, and you should too!