M+R NTEN Nonprofit Benchmarks Study

Nonprofits Grew Online Giving, Website Traffic & Social Media Fans in 2013

Julia Claire Campbell Fundraising, Infographics, Marketing, Nonprofits, Online Fundraising, Social Media 11 Comments

2014 M+R Benchmarks Study

It’s that time of year again – the M+R and NTEN annual Nonprofit Benchmarks Study!

This year they surveyed 53 nonprofits, looking at data on online fundraising and advocacy.

Some of the more interesting findings:

Email continues to account for about a third of online fundraising revenue.

Online giving increased 14% over 2012 totals.

Monthly website traffic grew by 16% in 2013.

Nonprofits grew their number of Facebook fans by 37%, and Twitter followers by 46%.

Most surprising finding:

As nonprofits send more email messages, their unsubscribe rates go down. As the study says, yes, this is a bit counterintuitive, “but it shows that high message volume doesn’t necessarily lead to mass abandonment of an email list.” (YES!)

Most important finding (in my opinion):

“So, when is the best time to send a fundraising message? When it’s ready. No, really. It’s not about what the calendar says, it’s about making sure you say something timely, powerful, and relevant to your supporters.”

(YES! High fiving… myself.)

For nonprofit data nerds, and nonprofit marketing professionals, this study is a must read.

Here is a nifty infographic they created for it:

M+R NTEN Nonprofit Benchmarks Study

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