Target Analytics Releases First Look at 2009 Fundraising Trends

The Target Analytics Index of National Fundraising Performance analyzes direct marketing giving for many of the largest nonprofit organizations in the country. For the 12 months ending Q1 2009, Target Analytics evaluated transactions from 79 organizations, including over 35 million donors and more than 66 million gifts totaling almost $2 billion in revenue. This quarter's Index saw the addition of two new sectors: arts and cultural, and religion.

The Q1 2009 Index findings indicated that nonprofit direct marketing experienced continued revenue and donor declines in Q1 as the economy remained weak. All of the key metrics analyzed in the Index were down from the first quarter of 2008 to the first quarter of 2009.

Here are some of the key findings:

• Index revenue declined a median 7.8% from Q1 2008 to Q1 2009 with every sector declining.
  
• Donor numbers in the Index fell a median 5.8% from Q1 2008 to Q1 2009.   
  
• For the first time since the Index began in 2002, overall revenue per donor declined 2.1% from the same period the previous year.
  
•  The number of new donors fell 12.9% from the first quarter of 2008 to the first quarter of 2009. Index donor declines are due primarily to declines in new donor numbers, which have fallen faster than overall donor numbers since the 2005 hurricanes, and have fallen three times faster since the recession began than they had in either of the previous two years.

As the Index points out, in evaluating Q1 2009 trends, it is important to remember that first-quarter rates of growth and decline are often greater than eventual year-end results because they are calculated on relatively small numbers of gifts and revenue amounts. 

To access the results report, click here. (pdf)