Q1 2024 fundraising improves year over year

Giving was up 4.1% in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the first quarter of 2023, but the number of donors and retention both declined again, 1.3% and 3% respectively, according to a report.  

Micro donors, those who give $100 or less and make up 59.3% of all donors, had the sharpest decline at 10.4%. That is twice the percentage decline of the next largest group, donors who give $101 to $500, which was 5.2% and making up 28.1% of all donors. 

The drop in micro donors accounts for nearly three-quarters of the topline decrease in donors. 

Those are some of the numbers reported by the Fundraising Effectiveness Project (FEP) and presented by the Foundation for Philanthropy at the Association of Fundraising Professionals and by GivingTuesday.  

Data is limited to organizations with three or more years of data, with $5,000 to $25 million received in the prior year via the Growth in Giving database. Data is weighted across size of organization as determined by amount fundraised. Participating organizations can fluctuate from year to year. 

“There appear to be two diverging trends: We are losing broad support from a large number of small-dollar donors, while the international and foreign affairs segment is gaining ground with these very same donors,” Ben Miller, chair of the FEP, and senior vice president of Data Science at Bonterra said in a statement. “This indicates that the numbers do not reflect a decline in donor generosity, but rather a need for our sector to adapt and figure out new ways to unlock that generosity more effectively.” 

There was a significant decline in new and new retained donors (10.3% and 12.1% year-over-year respectively). Researchers suggested it shows continued challenges in acquiring and maintaining growth in first-time contributors. Repeat retained donors, constituting 50.4% of all donors, had a 6.5% decline, contributing to nearly 40% of the topline decrease in total donors. Report authors said this indicates a need to enhance ongoing engagement with regular supporters. 

While initial results showed a 3.9% decrease in fundraising dollars, after adjusting for delays in data reporting researchers estimate fundraising dollars to have increase 4.1% compared to last year. This estimated increase in fundraising dollars indicates a potential reversal of the downward trend that began in 2020. Breaking from the previous two years, fundraising dollars had a slow start at the beginning of the year, while picking up momentum in February and March. 

Despite the negative trend, dollar amounts have stabilized compared to 2023, with dollars donated by new donors decreasing by only 1.9% during the first quarter of 2024 compared to 34.4% in the same quarter last year. Donors who give seven or more times represent 6.3% of total dollars but positively influence the topline change in dollars by just 0.2%, demonstrating the increasing importance of frequent donors in overall growth. 

Unlike the two years prior where retention rates start high in January and taper off, donor retention in the first quarter of 2024 has been relatively stable and hovers around negative 3%. The good news though is that supersize donors – those who gave at least $50,000, experienced the smallest drop-in retention rate, while the largest decrease in retention was concentrated among small, midsize and major donors.