Blackbaud Institute Shares Spotlight on 2023 Trends in Giving

Based on Blackbaud’s Robust Philanthropic Data Set, the Blackbaud Institute Shares New Insights on Last Year’s Giving Trends and What Fundraisers Should Know for 2024 

Charleston, S.C. (April 8, 2024) — The Blackbaud Institute, a research lab at Blackbaud (NASDAQ: BLKB), the leading provider of software for powering social impact, today released new insights from Blackbaud’s unmatched philanthropic dataset in its 2023 Trends in Giving Spotlight.

The Blackbaud Institute gives social impact professionals data to understand broader industry trends, benchmark success and take fundraising to new levels. This new series of quarterly spotlights will draw from Blackbaud’s data and insights on charitable giving, nonprofit business operations, corporate social responsibility and more. The current spotlight provides a round-up of the charitable giving trends that defined 2023 and a look at the past five years, with tips on how organizations can make the most of this year.

“Looking back at the past year in fundraising, the trend that jumps out is stability,” said Carrie Cobb, chief data officer, Blackbaud. “2023 can be seen as a bookend to a historic five-year story of charitable giving, with generosity remaining durable and today’s giving levels sustaining well above their pre-pandemic norms.”

Key Findings:  

• Giving remains resilient. 
  • For average year-over-year changes normalized at the organization level, the 5-year compound annual growth rate of 1.79% illustrates a solid upward trend felt across the nonprofit sector, with giving at the average organization remaining well above pre-pandemic levels.
• Online Giving continues to make gains. 
  • The percentage of charitable giving donated through online sources rose from almost 8% in 2022 to over 12% for the average organization in 2023.
  • This increase was felt across organization sizes and subsectors, but small organizations (revenue below $1M) lead the pack with nearly 17% of the average organization’s donations coming from online sources, and online giving as a whole increasing by 1.5% for the average organization.
• Environmental causes—a favorite for Millennials and Gen Z —saw a strong 2023. 
  • The three subsectors in which the average organization saw the largest increases in charitable giving in 2023 were: Environmental Organizations (+3.8%), Animal Welfare Organizations (+1.4%) and Medical Research (+1.3%).
  • These are also top causes for Millennials and Gen Zers. As the percentage of giving from online sources rises, optimizing online donation forms will make giving easier for Millennial and Gen Z donors. Gen Z donors report using an organization’s website to donate at nearly twice the rate assumed by fundraising professionals.

More insights can be accessed in the full Blackbaud Institute Spotlight. All Blackbaud Institute resources are offered for free, as part of Blackbaud’s commitment to accelerating social impact.

About Blackbaud Institute
The Blackbaud Institute develops leading-edge research and convenes expert voices to equip the social impact community with knowledge, insight, and confidence. The Blackbaud Institute draws from Blackbaud’s data set, the most comprehensive in the social impact community. In addition, the Institute facilitates public research studies to drive original qualitative and quantitative insight. Our research agenda is grounded in a commitment to topics that social impact organizations can apply immediately to better understand, benchmark, and improve their essential business operations. We are guided by our commitment to the social impact sector to provide timely, transparent, and well-rounded research that is free to access. From how organizations run to how donors give, we’re 100% focused on research and resources for this sector.

About Blackbaud
Blackbaud (NASDAQ: BLKB) is the leading software provider exclusively dedicated to powering social impact. Serving the nonprofit and education sectors, companies committed to social responsibility and individual change makers, Blackbaud’s essential software is built to accelerate impact in fundraising, nonprofit financial management, digital giving, grantmaking, corporate social responsibility and education management. With millions of users and over $100 billion raised, granted or managed through Blackbaud platforms every year, Blackbaud’s solutions are unleashing the potential of the people and organizations who change the world. Blackbaud has been named to Newsweek’s list of America’s Most Responsible Companies, Quartz’s list of Best Companies for Remote Workers, and Forbes’ list of America’s Best Employers. A remote-first company, Blackbaud has operations in the United States, Australia, Canada, Costa Rica and the United Kingdom, supporting users in 100+ countries. Learn more at www.blackbaud.com or follow us on X/Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.

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Forward-looking Statements
Except for historical information, all of the statements, expectations, and assumptions contained in this news release are forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties, including statements regarding expected benefits of products and product features. Although Blackbaud attempts to be accurate in making these forward-looking statements, it is possible that future circumstances might differ from the assumptions on which such statements are based. In addition, other important factors that could cause results to differ materially include the following: general economic risks; uncertainty regarding increased business and renewals from existing customers; continued success in sales growth; management of integration of acquired companies and other risks associated with acquisitions; risks associated with successful implementation of multiple integrated software products; the ability to attract and retain key personnel; risks associated with management of growth; lengthy sales and implementation cycles, particularly in larger organization; technological changes that make our products and services less competitive; and the other risk factors set forth from time to time in the SEC filings for Blackbaud, copies of which are available free of charge at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov or upon request from Blackbaud’s investor relations department. All Blackbaud product names appearing herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of Blackbaud, Inc.