The left-leaning Institute for Policy Studies crunched the data from Giving USA Foundation’s annual philanthropic survey to figure out who was giving what. Here’s what they determined:
Yep, the rich are getting richer and they are increasing their giving while regular folks are giving less.
So, what should you do? Should we fret? Pound our fists on our chests? Hold up signs and march? No!
More about value.
I talk about value a lot because so many in the sector keep fretting about retention rates, the number of small donations on Giving Tuesday, lapse rates, etc. But meanwhile Netflix has grown substantially at a “cost” (donation) of about $10/month (the same amount as a monthly donation). Plus, people still shell out money (make a donation) for $4 drinks at Starbucks every day to the tune of $20+/week or $80/month. And finally, this year’s Black Friday online sales were 21.6% more than last year.
In other words, people have money (and it’s not just the rich people).
The money is out there. The question is, “What are you doing to get it?”
Bottom line: Focus on big donors first. You can’t swim upstream against macro-economics.
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