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There’s no wrong way to dig into our annual Benchmarks Study, covering digital programs from marketing to fundraising to advocacy. Some folks head straight to mrbenchmarks.com, exploring the full data set and following their own path down the rabbit hole of charts and findings. Others prefer a sense of community and the chance to ask questions, and a few hundred of them joined us for a Benchmarks webinar yesterday.
And some people would rather wait and take a guided tour. If that’s you, you can watch the full recording of the Benchmarks webinar, including a lively and informative Q and A. Check it out. (There is a clear best way to enjoy Benchmarks, btw, which is to participate, as 220 lovely nonprofit partners did this year. If you’re interested in joining us next time around, sign up at mrbenchmarks.com.)
All of this year’s findings are now available at mrbenchmarks.com for free! This year’s big headlines are:
- Online revenue for nonprofits increased by 32% in 2020. This is extraordinary growth, and a sign of just how many people devoted themselves to doing good in 2020. Want more evidence? Here:
- Nonprofits working to alleviate Hunger and Poverty reported a 173% increase in online revenue. In the year of pandemic, of quarantine, of isolation, people came together like never before.
- Audiences grew across all digital channels. Email list sizes were up by 3%, Twitter followers increased by 25%, and mobile audiences by 26%.
- Half of all nonprofit website visitors used mobile devices, though desktop users still accounted for the majority of transactions and revenue. The balance of traffic, transactions, and revenue continued to shift toward mobile users.
- Nonprofits expanded their investment in digital ads, increasing investments by 33%. While the overall mix favored fundraising ads, there were stark differences in strategy and results for nonprofits of different sizes.
We have a few fun social media events coming up, so be sure to follow @mrcampaigns on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to learn more.