Excitement! Exhilaration! X-axes! It’s time for Benchmarks X, our tenth in-depth report on the state of nonprofit online fundraising, advocacy, marketing, and more. Download it here, memorize the most important parts (spoiler: they are all the most important parts), then come back and read the rest of this.
All done? We’re impressed, that was pretty fast. Okay here’s what you need to know:
Benchmarks X is the most expansive, exhaustive examination of online nonprofit metrics we’ve ever done. Our participants — 105 nonprofits committed to causes ranging from civil rights to animal welfare to disaster relief to so much more — provided detailed data on online advocacy, fundraising, and marketing.
A few key findings:
X Digital ads are a big, big deal. Nonprofits in our study spent an average of $0.04 for every dollar raised online in 2015. For example, a nonprofit that brought in $1 million online from all sources invested $40,000 on search, banners, branding, etc. To be clear, this number doesn’t track the direct return on investment for ads – it reflects the typical nonprofit investment strategy.
X Online revenue was up 19% in 2015, and email revenue grew even faster with a 25% increase. But it’s not all sunshine and roses: email open rates, click-through rates, and response rates all declined. Benchmarks X will clue you in to the metrics you need to watch.
X Online communication is constant. Nonprofits sent 49 email messages per subscriber in 2015 (including 19 fundraising appeals), posted 1.3 times per day on Facebook, and tweeted 3.8 times per day. We’ll show you the impact of this never-ending stream.
If you haven’t already, go download Benchmarks X now! I hope it exceeds your most exalted expectations.
XOXO
Download #BenchmarksX for data on online fundraising, advocacy + marketing for nonprofits from @MRCampaigns: https://t.co/wf5vPLMYpf #nptech
— M+R (@MRCampaigns) April 20, 2016