Most Small Charities Don’t Get Help From Trustees in Raising Money, Says Study

Title: “2016 Individual Donor Benchmark Data Brief”

Organization: Third Space Studio

Summary: Only 38 percent of small organizations say their board members helped them raise money for their organizations from individuals last year — and that share is down from 40 percent in 2015, according to the annual study.

The report by Third Space Studio, a North Carolina consulting firm that focuses on strategic fundraising and management for nonprofits, gathered data from 155 nonprofits with annual revenue of less than $2 million.

Among the findings:

• Thirty-six percent of the groups’ overall revenue was raised from individuals, and 60 percent of those donors were retained from year to year.
• On average, organizations in the survey had 530 donors. Those supporters gave an average of $947 last year.
• The smallest charities, those with less than $200,000 in annual revenue, were particularly dependent on individuals, with 48 percent of their money in 2016 coming from those donors.
• Nearly half of revenue generated from individual donors, 48 percent, came from those who gave at least $1,000.  
• About one-quarter of all revenue from individuals was given online. Forty percent of the charities’ individual supporters gave online, with an average annual total per donor of $300, excluding recurring gifts.
• Eleven percent of donors made recurring gifts, with average annual contributions of $736.