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We are going to try to make this post interesting, useful, and perhaps a little bit surprising. But the reality is, it will not be nearly as interesting, useful, or surprising as the complete 2020 M+R Benchmarks Study.
So if you are ready to go exploring a full universe of online nonprofit data and insights—including digital ads, social media, email, web traffic, mobile messaging, and just about everything else under the sun—it’s all waiting for you at mrbenchmarks.com!
Maybe you’d like to do a bit more of a pre-flight check before you boldly go? First, you should know that the 2020 M+R Benchmarks Study includes data provided by 201 fantastic, pioneering, truly wonderful nonprofit partners. The findings in the study are based on 2019 numbers, and they cover a wide array of fundraising, advocacy, and marketing metrics.
Since this data was collected, COVID-19 has caused untold human suffering, as well as massive upheaval in just about every part of our daily lives. Things are changing rapidly, and it feels like each day’s changes are eclipsed by the next before we’ve gotten half a chance to get used to them.
We believe that the data in this year’s Benchmarks Study can help give you some solid ground to stand on as you make strategic choices during this challenging time. These key findings are just the start, giving you a sense of where we’ve been so you can think about where to go next.
⭐ Online revenue for nonprofits increased by 10% in 2019. After a couple of years of extreme volatility after the 2016 election, this falls in line with the long-term growth trajectory.
⭐ Digital ad spending grew by 16%, with a third of the year’s ad spending occurring in December. Direct fundraising efforts accounted for 43% of ad budgets.
⭐ Facebook generated 3.5% of all online nonprofit revenue, due almost entirely to the impact of peer-to-peer Facebook Fundraisers. For the Health sector, Facebook contributions accounted for nearly 10% of all online revenue.
⭐ 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 continues to shift toward mobile users.
⭐ Email list sizes declined slightly, while fundraising email response rates increased slightly. If you’ve been spending time maintaining good list hygiene and honing in on your most committed audiences, you aren’t alone.
The complete findings are available to explore for free at mrbenchmarks.com. We hope it satisfies your curiosity and sparks new ideas for you. We’ve even prepared a Spotify playlist to help set the tone.
Of course, there’s no need to explore alone. Please join us at one of our upcoming virtual events to walk through the key findings, ask questions, and learn more.
⭐ April 23, 1:00–2:30PT/4:00–5:30ET: Official Launch Webinar + Party with NTEN
⭐ May 7, 12:00–1:00PT/3:00–4:00ET with The Nonprofit Alliance
⭐ May 14, 11:00–12:00PT/2:00–3:00ET with TechSoup
First, thanks for doing this analysis and sharing it with others doing nonprofit fundraising
Can I get a PDF of this great power point?
I like to read them and mark them up. But when I tried to look at in in Adobe all of the page breaks were messed up and your analysis was covered up by format images, etc.