Category Archives for Research & Special Reports


Reported Uptick in Giving Shows Resilience of US Donors Despite Impact of Covid-19

And now for some good news. The Fundraising Effectiveness Project’s (FEP) 2nd Quarter 2020 report shows an uptick in giving and the resilience of givers in the US. As with previous economic downturns and cataclysms, we can see that the philanthropic spirit of the American public has endured through the second quarter of 2020. Fundraising […]

Covid-19 Impacts Giving in 1st Quarter

The Fundraising Effectiveness Project’s (FEP) 1st Quarter 2020 report indicates a decrease in total current giving to nonprofits through March, 2020. Giving USA’s recent webinars heralding an increase in total giving in 2019 may be less instructive than the FEP’s more timely reporting and there may be disturbing trends developing for total giving in 2020. […]

Are you tracking donor retention rates?

We are proud of Lori H. Overmyer, Executive Vice President, and her continued leadership with the AFP Research Council and the ongoing (FEP) Fundraising Effectiveness Project.  If you are not monitoring your organization’s donor retention rates you should be.  Creating donor communication and stewardship programs to increase your donor retention rates is a sure fire […]

AFP Compensation Survey

Advancing Philanthropy | Volume 25/ Number 3 / www.afpnet.org By Lori Hunter Overmyer, MBA, CFRE, Executive Vice President, GoettlerAssociates   The Association of Fundraising Professionals’ annual compensation and benefits study, based thisyear on the input of 3,536 respondents (3,037 from the United States and 499 from Canada), provides an in-depth , fascinating look at our […]

Making the ASK Online Is Different.

  All fundraising is not the same.  How you “ask” and what you “ask for” appears to be different based on how you do the “asking.”  This article from Jon Powell at NextAfter describes the importance of organizing the “ask” in your online donation form.  As major-gift fundraisers, we believe that the greatest sin is […]

Fundraising Effectiveness Project – 2017 Survey Report

The 2017 Fundraising Effectiveness Project Survey Report summarized data from 10,829 non-profit organizations covering year to year fundraising results for 2015-2016. Get the full report here: 2017 FUNDRAISING EFFECTIVENESS SURVEY REPORT Here is a quick outline of just some of the findings: Participating organizations raised $9.129 billion dollars in 2016 compared to $8.862 billion dollars in […]

What Do People Want When They Give to Nonprofits?

Oh my, what an enticing title!  This article from FastCompany certainly caught our eye, as we suspect it would for most development and fundraising professionals.  Despite being a little put-off by the author’s recounting of  a few recent and high profile bad apples in the third sector, we worked through the article and the actual […]

Will a rising tide help your organization?

Great news!  New study predicts fundraising stability for 2017 and beyond.  Certainly a favorable environment for fundraising is a welcome change from the environment that many organizations have experienced over parts of the past decade.  But, as development professionals, we all know that a broad market prediction such as this actually means little for most […]

Use the 2016 U.S. Trust Study to Encourage Your Volunteers

This year’s report findings should help to further encourage the fundraising advocacy of your volunteers.  If you could show a current or prospective volunteer information that illustrates the likelihood their efforts will be rewarded with success, would you use it?  The sixth bi-annual U.S. Trust (IU Lily School of Philanthropy) study of high net worth […]

Focus on Donor Retention Rates to Develop Your S.M.A.R.T. Plan

This recent article and research conducted by Heather Yandow at Third Space Studio reminds us all that there are few short cuts in the business of philanthropy. We dove into this article because it called for the need to measure donor retention rates. Donor retention seems to be getting a great deal of attention in […]