If you’re a fundraiser, and interested in the digital world, then Blackbaud’s recently released 2010 Online Giving Report is a must read. The report contains a comprehensive analysis of online giving trends for small to large charities in a range of sectors.

Not surprisingly, 2010 saw continued growth of the importance of online fundraising:

Online giving growth (2010 over 2009):

• Online giving in general rose by almost 35%
• Large charities grew by almost 56%
• Small charities grew by 22%
• Medium charities grew by 16%

Here is how that growth shakes down by sector (2010 over 2009):

• Arts, Culture & Humanities 8.7%
• Education 13.7%
• Environment & Animals 28.4%
• Health Care 7.4%
• Human Services 29.3%
• International Affairs 130.8%*
• Public / Society Benefit 15%

*In terms of sector, the anomaly in 2010 was the earthquake in Haiti.

Who are the exceptional performers?
According to the Blackbaud study, under performers are non-profits with a “traditional major gift focus” and average performers that offer a “mix of fundraising channels”.

Drum roll please…

The exceptional online charitable performers are those that have a “traditional direct mail focus”. I suspect that it’s because direct mailers know how to manage for results.

Overall
How does your non-profit’s online results compare to these stats? Are you an underperformer? An average performer? A top performer?

If you’re interested you can drill down into the Blackbaud report for many more stats.

It would be interesting to overlay the cost of online fundraising. As with other areas of fundraising, I suspect that dollars well-spent would yield a higher net return.

Right now, the online field is ripe for the picking and it’ll be the charities that lead the digital pack that will reap the biggest reward.

Make the Digital Leap…
By the way, Blackbaud is a sponsor of the second annual Digital Leap conference on April 12, 2011 at the Royal Conservatory in Toronto.