FEP Data for Q3 2024 Shows More Dollars Coming from Fewer Donors in a Continuing Trend

Q3 2024 fundraising data highlights a common trend of donor consolidation as seen in previous quarters. While we are seeing a small increase in total dollars donated, with a modest 0.9% increase in dollars raised, this growth masks significant declines in donor participation, particularly among smaller donors (gifts under $100), who saw a steep decline of -12.4%. Additionally, donor retention continues to decline (-4.6%), marking the fourth consecutive year of year-over-year decreases. These trends underscore the challenges facing nonprofits, particularly the need to re-engage smaller donors and improve retention across donor
segments.

As nonprofits approach 2025, these data points reveal both critical challenges and strategic opportunities. Organizations can mitigate dependencies on larger donors by prioritizing small donor acquisition and tailoring retention strategies to smaller donor segments, in addition to strengthening relationships with major donors. With a focus on these areas, nonprofits can position themselves for the 2025 giving year.

The full Q3 2024 report is available here.

The Fundraising Effectiveness Project (FEP) is a collaboration among fundraising data providers, researchers, analysts, associations, and consultants to empower the sector to track and evaluate trends in giving. The project offers one of the only views of the current year’s fundraising data in aggregate to provide the most recent trends for guiding nonprofit fundraising and donor engagement. The FEP releases quarterly findings on those giving trends, released both via downloadable reports at afpglobal.org/fep and in a free online dashboard.

FEP Q3 2024 Report Key Takeaways

• Q3 2024 saw a 0.9% increase in dollars raised, marking a deceleration in the growth of fundraising dollars observed in previous quarters of 2024. This quarter also saw declines in the numbers of donors (-5.3%) and in donor retention (-4.6%).
• The decline in donor numbers is largely driven by low participation from the smallest donor size group (under $100), which saw an -12.4% year-over-year (YOY) decrease, as well as declines in numbers of new donors, who experienced an -11.5% YOY decrease. This underscores the need to incorporate small donor acquisition and retention into wider fundraising strategies.
• 2024 marks the fourth consecutive year that retention rate has declined YOY in Q3. The drop was most pronounced among smaller donor segments ($1-$100, $101-$500 and $501-$5000), underscoring the need for more effective retention strategies.

“The ongoing decline in donor numbers and retention signals an urgent need for strategic recalibration,” noted Woodrow Rosenbaum, Chief Data Officer of GivingTuesday. “Our Q3 FEP data underscores the critical importance of engaging and retaining small donors, who form the backbone of sustainable giving. Focusing on innovative strategies to activate new donors and deepen existing relationships will be pivotal in addressing these challenges and fostering a stronger, more resilient sector in 2025. This is a central drive for improving the FEP project by expanding its capabilities, increasing community participation, and enhancing its insights to empower the sector. By providing organizations with actionable data and tools, we aim to help them navigate these challenges and build more effective fundraising strategies.”

“As I reflect on the Fundraising Effectiveness Project (FEP) and how far it has come from where it started in 2006, I am proud of the partnership that the AFP Foundation for Philanthropy has with GivingTuesday and this important research that we produce for the fundraising profession. I hope that as a development professional, you look forward to the quarterly results and use them to measure your progress, find inspiration, and improve your efforts to attract new donors, retain current ones, and strengthen your fundraising outcomes. Research empowers us to do better and this FEP data should be one of the go-to-resources you incorporate into your strategy to achieve this success,” says Lori Gusdorf, CAE, executive vice president of the AFP Foundations for Philanthropy.

DonorDock Joins FEP Data Providers
We’re excited to announce that DonorDock has joined the FEP as our newest data provider. Their history as an online fundraising software provider and experience with multi-channel fundraising strategies brings more actionable insight to the project, increases dataset fidelity, and further improves reporting integrity.

“The collective insights provided by this coalition empower nonprofits to make data-driven decisions. This program helps nonprofits get a clearer picture of what’s working in fundraising, from donations to recurring gifts to donor retention. By sharing and learning from this data, we can all make smarter decisions and have a bigger impact. We’re excited to be part of this effort to help nonprofits grow and thrive together,” announced Matt Bitzegaio, CEO of DonorDock.

FEP reports continue to be made possible by the generous support of existing collaborating data providers, including BetterUnite, Bloomerang, Classy, Community Brands, DonorPerfect, Givebutter, Keela, Neon One, and Qgiv. FEP’s partner network also includes data analysis and additional support from Bonterra. We welcome all giving platforms to join our efforts and increase our data coverage, enhancing the accuracy and accessibility of our efforts to provide measured analysis to the social sector.