Charitable giving sees third quarter surge

Charitable giving increased dramatically during the third quarter of 2018, making up all of the year-over-year declines after a sluggish first half of the year.

For the first half of 2018, nearly every metric the Fundraising Effectiveness Project (FEP) measured was lower significantly compared to 2017, including number of donors, total revenue from giving and donor retention rates.

While the same is mostly true in the third quarter, one metric improved significantly: total revenue. While total revenue was down 2.1% at mid-year, giving totals are now ahead 2.6% of 2017 figures after the third quarter.

The FEP’s 2018 Third Quarter Report compares fundraising year-to-date in 2018 to the same time period in 2017. The information from the report is based on the Growth in Giving Database, which includes more than 18,000 organizations and $72 billion in donations since 2005.

The change is especially dramatic when comparing just the third-quarter data in 2018 to 2017 with a 14% increase in revenue.