Fundraising Facts

We've linked to Jeff Brooks' Donor Power Blog several times in the past. Jeff has a knack for pointing out the things that are blisteringly obvious to donors but, for various reasons, evade most people who work in nonprofits.

This month at Fundraising Success, Jeff shares some insights the donors he knows so well in his piece, 25 Random Things About Fundraising. A few standouts:

• Race and ethnicity aren't predictors of giving, but age and sex are.
• People who attend religious services are more likely to give to charity than those who don't. Before you protest, Jeff adds that this applies to both religious and nonreligious organizations.
• The myth of donor fatigue. "The more recently a donor gave," Jeff says, "the more likely it is she’ll give now." He goes on to say that what we interpret as donor fatigue is often really fundraiser fatigue.
• "Typos improve fundraising results." Jeff admits that he doesn't have concrete proof for this one, but I plan to hold onto it and keep quoting it for shock value.

While we're on the subject of fundraising, NTEN and M+R Strategic Services have released their eNonprofit Benchmarks Study for 2009 (Robert blogged about last year's report). Mark at Queer Ideas reports on a finding that I think is especially salient: although online giving increased 43% between 2007 and 2008, the average gift dropped from $86 to $71. This leads to a question that I think will only increase in prominence over the next few years: how do we turn online donations into long-term donor relationships?

Related: NOZA's Craig Harris on Relationships with Donors

Photo: Ann Althouse, CC license