BlackBaud: Vital Signs Report

The CDP Team came across a report from BlackBaud that examines giving patterns and how organizations can respond and adapt to the forever-changing market. The study looks across 1,042 unique nonprofit organizations compiling of $16.4 billion in 2015.

With economic, demographic, and technological factors and advances it is inevitable that the market is going to be affected. The “business-as-usual” approaches will eventually stop working. Some notable factors include: increased number of nonprofits, recovery of the 2007-2009 recession, and baby boomers aging.

The donor-centered approach is the essential route because as the report mentions, “American donors are more valuable to American nonprofit organizations than organizations are to the donors”.

The studies major finding was: fewer households are supporting organizations, but are giving larger gifts.

Want better retention rates? It requires a better understanding of your donors’ needs which demands more than simplified demographic data. Uncovering which characteristic patterns within the broader demographic groupings create the best segmentations is essential.

With its Member Analytics Engine , CDP has started creating the framework for this type of segmentation that will combine giving data, viewership habits, and eventually demographic profiles to help us better communicate with donors on a personal level.

To read the study in full, click here.