August 31, 2006 | Read Time: 2 minutes
Despite increased fuel costs, the war in Iraq, and falling housing prices, most fund raisers believe that the economy is not hampering their ability to raise money, nor will it do so six months from now, according to a national survey of 197 fund raisers.
The “Philanthropic Giving Index,” as the survey is called, measures fund raisers’ views of the fund-raising climate every six months.
In the latest survey, conducted this summer by the Indiana University Center on Philanthropy, 67 percent of the fund raisers said the current economy has had a positive effect or no effect on fund raising, up from an average of 64 percent for the two surveys conducted last year.
Looking ahead, 69 percent of the fund raisers in the latest survey said the economy would have a positive effect or no effect on their efforts to secure donations over the next six months.
On a 100-point scale, the fund raisers gave an overall grade of 88.9 to the fund-raising climate, up from 85.2 one year ago. The state of fund raising today got a score of 86.6, and the fund-raising climate for the next six months received a rating of 91.2, both up compared with one year ago.
Nearly 33 percent of the fund raisers said that they had been successful or somewhat successful in efforts to raise money over the Internet, an all-time high since the start of the survey in 1998. However, Internet solicitations, along with e-mail appeals and telemarketing, continue to be viewed as the least successful fund-raising methods, lagging behind major-gifts efforts, planned-giving appeals, grant seeking from foundations and corporations, special events, and direct mail.
Most fund raisers said that giving in response to Hurricane Katrina and other storms last year caused no dip in contributions, or only a temporary decline.
When asked if hurricane donations have “come at the expense of giving to my organization,” 29 percent of fund raisers agreed or strongly agreed with that statement when they were asked to look back one year. But only 9 percent agreed or strongly agreed when asked if the statement were true now.
The complete survey results are available online at http://www.philanthropy.iupui.edu/Summer_2006_Report_PGI17.pdf.
