New Food Bank Supporters Were More Likely to Donate on GivingTuesday

Many food banks have seen a surge in new donors in 2020 as need for food assistance has skyrocketed during the pandemic.

A few months ago, the fundraising consulting firm RKD Group analyzed data from 78 of its food-bank clients across the country. Over all, the organizations had a 623 percent increase in new donors in the first half of 2020 compared with that period the year before. Through September, new donors were up 579 percent and total revenue at the groups — a mix of large and small food banks — was up 221 percent.

The need for food assistance remains high, and some fundraisers at these charities worry whether the new donors will continue to support their cause.

In a recent online survey, more than a third of donors said they planned to give more in December than they did during the same month last year, and 61 percent of those donors said they had already given more in 2020 than in all of 2019.

GivingTuesday offered a first glimpse at whether donors would actually follow through with what they said they would do — and whether nonprofits would be able to retain new 2020 supporters.

RKD Group analyzed fundraising results for 20 food banks that participated in the giving day this year and in 2019. Over all, they raised $6.05 million on GivingTuesday, up from $1.28 million in 2019.

It’s a limited sample, to be sure, but it points to the potential of these new supporters.

The food banks also identified different behaviors from donors who made their first gifts since the pandemic began. On GivingTuesday, those new donors gave at more than four times the rate of donors on the regular email list. They also opened emails at triple the rate compared with the regular donor file and clicked through those emails at quadruple the rate.