Index of Higher Education Fundraising Performance 2008

Read a complete summary of the Index of Higher Education findings (PDF).

National Trends in 2008 Mirror 2007, with Some Nuances

According to the Target Analytics Index of Higher Education Fundraising Performance, the trends that have been observed over the past several years, and specifically in 2007, repeated in 2008.  The bottom line is that donor counts are down and dollars are up. While programs overall continue to shed modest numbers of donors and participation rates continue to dip, the good news is that the donors who are giving have tended to give more.  In general, donors are becoming more selective about the charities they support, but are clearly willing to upgrade their support of their favorite organizations.

Overall, donor retention dipped slightly in 2008, reversing previous trends of slightly increased retention rates.  This downward trend was especially impactful to private institutions, which have seen this key measure drop each of the last three years.  Even more challenging for programs was reactivating lapsed donors.  The Index shows an overall decline in the median reactivation rate of nearly six percent.  These two trends taken together –retention and reactivation—clearly indicate that keeping donors, and/or bringing them back on board, was increasingly challenging in 2008.  It is likely this trend will continue into 2009, particularly in light of the tough economic climate.

Acquisition of new alumni donors, a key measure of annual giving programs, was down for the second consecutive year.  One trend not reflected in the data is the move away from alumni solicitations to “friends” or parent audiences for acquiring new donors to feed the annual giving pipeline.  Young alumni acquisition continues to be a challenge for most programs, and has only added to the acquisition trends experienced over the past several years.

While donors are trending towards giving larger gifts overall, it should be noted that private institutions experienced a significant increase in revenue per retained donor in 2008, while public institutions saw a slight decrease.  When looking at all donors (not just retained donors), the trend reverses; whereby private institutions saw a modest decrease in median revenue per donor, public schools had a modest increase. In general, however, the upgrade behavior among various donor groups is positive.

Overall the decrease in donors and increase in revenue trends continue.   But, for the first time we are beginning to experience some challenges relative to donor retention and reactivation simultaneously and institutions will need to begin thinking about how to counter these trends.  The economic strain of 2009 will likely not help in reversing these trends.

For more information, please click here to download full report (PDF). You can also review an archived version of the 2007 summary of the Index of Higher Education findings.

For more information about the Target Analytics Index of Higher Education Fundraising Performance, contact Ryan Regan at Ryan.Regan@Blackbaud.com or (617) 583-8537.