Major Donor Survey Offers Both Encouraging News and a Warning to Nonprofit Leaders
DickersonBakker recently completed a nationwide study to assess the future state of giving to faith-based nonprofits.
The findings of this study indicates that overall giving to faith-based nonprofits is likely to hold steady or even increase through the remainder of 2020. If there is a decrease, the data suggests it will only be modest.
A dire warning lurks beneath the surface of this good news, however. Notably, only 60% of donors said they expect their giving to be stable. This means that 40% of 2020 year-end giving will be fluid. Some will give less, but others who give more will help fill the void. This is not unlike what happened in the wake of the financial crash of 2008. Same as then, gains and losses are not likely to be evenly distributed. Nonprofit fundraisers who are complacent in making their case and/or not attentive to donors’ needs will likely pay a price.
This online survey of 1,079 US adult donors was conducted from May 29 to June 22, 2020, by DickersonBakker’s research specialist, Dr. Paul Virts. Dr. Virts has a doctorate in communication research and over 30 years’ professional experience conducting marketing and donor research. The margin of error of this study is ±3% at the 95% confidence level. Those who were invited to participate were understood to have given at least $1,000 to one faith-based nonprofit organization in 2018 and/or in 2019.
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