By Steve MacLaughlin, Director of Analytics, Blackbaud
#GivingTuesday was founded in 2012 by New York’s 92nd Street Y in partnership with the United Nations Foundation. Since its launch, Giving Tuesday has engaged over 10,000 nonprofit organizations worldwide and raised tens of millions online for charities of all shapes and sizes.
While there have been reports on the amount of donations raised during #GivingTuesday, none went very deep into the data…until now.
The first-of-its-kind #GivingTuesday Trends report offers the most in-depth analysis of online giving trends since the event first began. The report digs into #GivingTuesday data from more than 4,300 nonprofit organizations representing $55.6 million in online fundraising since 2012.
5 key questions about online giving answered in the Giving Tuesday Trends report:
How much has online giving grown?
#GivingTuesday has had double-digit year-over-year growth in online donations since 2012.
Double digit-growth is impressive, but it’s important for us to have directional information about what types of nonprofit organizations have been receiving donations on #GivingTuesday.
Where’s all the giving going?
Nonprofits in the report were grouped into three size categories, revealing that large nonprofits have received the majority of online donations on #GivingTuesday. However, this trend is shifting with medium-size nonprofits increasing their share of giving.
Which sectors receive the most online donations?
In 2012, most of the online giving on #GivingTuesday was concentrated among nonprofits in the Medical Research, Human Services, and International Affairs sectors. By 2014, giving had shifted towards Faith-based, Higher Education, and Healthcare organizations. The data suggests that #GivingTuesday represents a good fundraising opportunity for those organizations that choose to focus their efforts.
Are #GivingTuesday donors giving more online than offline?
#GivingTuesday online average gift amounts continued to be greater than offline non-major gift one-time donations. This continues a trend of seeing online donations not related to peer-to-peer fundraising at or exceeding the $100 per gift threshold. Online average gift amounts increased nearly every year for small, medium, and large nonprofit organizations during #GivingTuesday.
How important is mobile to online giving on #GivingTuesday?
Data shows that #GivingTuesday is another example of the rise of mobile giving. In 2014, nearly 17 percent of online donation form views on #GivingTuesday 2014 were on a mobile device. Sadly, many nonprofits are not using mobile friendly websites or donation forms. Mobile giving will only increase and #GivingTuesday shows it’s an important area for nonprofits to focus on.
The #GivingTuesday movement continues to grow and the latest data reveals some good insights. #GivingTuesday 2015 is on December 1 this year. Stay tuned on how giving grows this year.
Steve MacLaughlin is a Director of Analytics at Blackbaud where they leverage the company’s unique data assets to accelerate positive results for the nonprofit sector. Steve has spent more than 15 years building successful online initiatives with for-profit and nonprofit organizations across the world. He is a frequent speaker at events including the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), Association for Healthcare Philanthropy (AHP), American Marketing Association (AMA), Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), Direct Marketing Fundraisers Association (DMFA), Giving Institute Summer Symposium, National Association of Independent School (NAIS), Nonprofit Technology Network (NTEN), Institute of Fundraising National Convention, Civil Society Conference, Resoure Alliance’s Fundraising Online, and a keynote speaker at such events as the Crescendo Practical Planned Giving Conference.
Steve serves on the Nonprofit Technology Network (NTEN) Board of Directors and supports its focus on both the growth and professionalism of the nonprofit technology field as well as building knowledge and information sharing capacity throughout the sector.
He is a frequent blogger, published author of a chapter in the book People to People Fundraising: Social Networking and Web 2.0 for Charities, and is a co-editor of the book Internet Management for Nonprofits: Strategies, Tools & Trade Secrets. Steve earned both his undergraduate degree and a Master of Science degree in Interactive Media from Indiana University.
