For many of us in the U.S. the week of July 4 is a quiet week in the office OR some or all of the time this week will be spent on vacation. If you ARE in the office, the reality is, not many donors will be eager to “meet” with you this week –they are away at the beach, lake, shore, cabin and having some downtime too.
So, it’s a perfect week to review two new reports on donor giving to help guide your fundraising and communication efforts for the rest of the year:
Giving USA 2012 – The Annual Report on Philanthropy for the Year 2011 was released on June 19, 2012. My view, the glass is half-full view, frames the data this way: In an economy that is seeing slow growth charitable giving stayed consistent. Giving grew about .08% after inflation.
Interestingly, bequests were the only source of real growth last year, rising nearly 9%.
You can download and read the FREE Executive Summary here.
Penelope Burk and Cygnus Research just released their 2012 Donor Survey based on feedback from more than 15,000 American donors.
Good news from the Cygnus Donor Survey:
“79% of Americans surveyed intend to give the same or more to charitable causes this year. Even better news — the survey’s most generous donors seem to have turned the corner — 25% say they will give more while only 11% plan to give less.”
Interesting information about how donors are changing the ways in which they give:
…”donors primary frustration is over-solicitation.” This is especially true for donors who responded to this survey who are 65 years of age or older.
“Satisfaction among donors who give monthly is very high with 81% offering a rating of 6 or 7 on a 7-point scale.”
”Retention of monthly donors is high, with only 22% having cancelled out of a monthly gift commitment after giving this way for some time.”
Follow this link for: FREE Executive Summary it is well worth the read.
Download the full report (for $75) it’s worth the investment and has LOTS of great information on:
- How donors intend to give in 2012
- How donors manage their philanthropy
- Monthly giving
- Pledge based fundraising events
- The fundraising opportunity represented by young donors and;
- Using donor-centered fundraising to increase giving
