Five Giving Trends Every Nonprofit Leader Should Know
Last Friday morning, I had the opportunity to share 5 giving trends at the CAFO Summit with a room full of executives representing several leading nonprofits in the foster care, adoption, and family preservation & strengthening space.
Here they are in the same order I shared them last week:
1️⃣ GENEROSITY IS ALIVE AND WELL
Coming on the heels of record-breaking years for charitable giving in 2019 and 2020, many thought giving might fall to pre-pandemic levels in 2021.
It did not.
Americans gave away approximately $485 BILLION to charity in 2021, smashing the previous records set in 2019 and 2020.
Time will tell how this year’s record inflation will impact future giving.
2️⃣ THE INFLUENCE OF WOMEN IN HOUSEHOLD GIVING DECISIONS
Did you know that:
- Only 62% of couples made giving decisions together in 2021 — down from 73% in 2005.
- When a giving decision is made by one person in a household, women decide 64% of the time.
And… PAY ATTENTION TO THIS NEXT STAT from a Bank of America Merril Lynch study:
- In 90% of affluent households,women are the sole decision-makers in giving decisions.
I’ll wait while you queue up some Aretha Franklin and let that one marinate for a few minutes.
3️⃣ THE METEORIC RISE OF CRYPTO-PHILANTHROPY
I won’t bore you with any other stats than this:
1657%
Last year, on just one of the many different giving platforms that facilitate crypto-philanthropy, the total amount given to nonprofits in cryptocurrency increased by
ONE THOUSAND SIX HUNDRED AND FIFTY-SEVEN PERCENT
At just under $70 million, the total given was still a relatively small piece of the larger $485 billion pie, but that number gets really big, really fast at 4-digit percentage point increases.
4️⃣ GIVING FROM INDIVIDUALS IS STILL KING
In 2021:
- 77% of all giving came from individuals
- 19% came from foundations
- 4% came from corporations.
Interestingly, the foundation number likely includes both DONOR ADVISED FUNDS and CLOSELY HELD FAMILY FOUNDATIONS where only a small number of family members make giving decisions.
In other words, 77% is probably artificially low as some portion of the foundation number could technically be categorized as coming from INDIVIDUAL PEOPLE.
5️⃣ THE SUBSCRIPTION ECONOMY AND THE CONTINUED SURGE OF MONTHLY GIVING
Monthly giving to nonprofits rose by 24% in 2021, making up 22% of all online revenue.
One-time gift revenue to nonprofits fell by 1% during the same time period.
Charitable giving to nonprofits has become part of the subscription economy and the subscription economy is NOT going away.
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Here are two questions to ponder in light of these trends:
1. How might your strategy or approach to fundraising need to shift in response to one or more of these trends?
Or…
2. What’s something practical you’ve already done in response to one or more of these trends?
