Giving USA 2009 Results Confirm 2008 Target Analytics Index Findings
In this guest post, Target Analytics’ Helen Flannery compares key findings from the Giving USA 2009 results with the 2008 Target Analytics Index of National Fundraising Performance
The Giving USA Foundation today released its national fundraising estimates for 2008, showing a decrease in revenue for nonprofits from 2007 to 2008. These results align with the 2008 Target Analytics Index of National Fundraising Performance, released this past April.
The Target Index and Giving USA studies use very different methodologies. The Target Index analyzes direct marketing giving based on gift file downloads from 75 nonprofit organizations (primarily large national direct mailers). Giving USA, on the other hand, models giving from all sources, for all nonprofit organizations in the country using reported charitable giving in combination with other factors like stock market performance and tax law changes.
That said, the Giving USA results nevertheless confirm the trends we saw in our Index – that 2008 was a disappointing year for many nonprofits.
The Target Index reported a median revenue decline of 3.3% from 2007 to 2008. Revenue in Giving USA’s individual giving segment, the segment most comparable to the Target Index, declined 2.7% over the same period. Both analyses essentially saw a decline of 3% in individual revenue from 2007 to 2008.
The Target Index and Giving USA both saw substantial declines in health and human services revenue from 2007 to 2008 and both saw modest 1% growth in international relief.
The 2008 Target Index also showed similar declines in other measures of fundraising health such as donor numbers, new donor acquisition, and retention rates.
Target Analytics releases the Index on a quarterly basis and we are currently analyzing results from Q1 2009. Findings will be available for download the afternoon of June 25th at http://www.blackbaud.com/targetanalytics/benchmarking/nationalindex.aspx.