2019 sees ‘return to normal’ when it comes to online giving

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/nba.30769
• Date: 01 June 2020
• Published date: 01 June 2020

wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/nba © 2020 Wiley Periodicals LLC, A Wiley Company • All rights reserved

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Vol. 369 June 2020

2019 sees ‘return to normal’ when it comes

to online giving

The latest Benchmarks Study from M+R Strategic

Services shows that donations made online via email,

text messages, social media platforms and organiza-

tion websites logged double-digit growth in 2019, af-

ter a at 2018 and a big upward surge the year before

that. In addition, email response rates improved for

the rst time in recent memory, and the use of text

messaging and Facebook Fundraising has also grown

as nonprots nd new ways to leverage tech to reach

their supporters.

Nonprot Business Advisor recently spoke with Will

Valverde, M+R’s senior creative director, about the

study and what it says about the sector.

Q: The top numbers this year show 10% growth in

online giving for 2019. Is this the “return to normal”

that the sector was hoping for, after the big swings of

the last few years?

A: Given our current coronavirus reality, it’s really

hard to describe anything as “normal” these days, but

10% growth is pretty typical of the long-term trend.

Also in this issue

Conferences and Events: The National Urban League

Annual Conference; the ASAE Annual Meeting and

Expo; 2020 Netroots Nation ..................... 4

Industry News: Cox Enterprises expands partnership

with Girls Inc ................................. 5

Nonprot Research: Endowments, foundations

shifting strategies to weather pandemic .............6

Study shows women use tech to give to charity more

than men .....................................6

Industry News: Report shows global impact of

pandemic on charitable sector ....................7

Charities expect revenue drops, but some donors plan

to boost giving ................................7

Resources: Webinar looks at donor engagement

during crises; Charityhowto.com webinar explores

grants research; Candid webinar offers corporate

giving intro ...................................9

Employment Law: Legal cases that impact nonprots . 10

News: Briefs from around the sector .............. 12

Businesses, philanthropists launch

digital learning initiative in Detroit

A coalition of leading businesses and philan-

thropic organizations in Detroit has launched a

program to place a computer tablet with high-

speed LTE internet connectivity, along with techni-

cal support, into the hands of every Detroit Public

Schools Community District K–12 student.

According to organizers, the program, called

Connected Futures, is the rst step in address-

ing digital inequity within the city of Detroit,

an issue that has been exacerbated as students

have been forced to learn from home as a result

of the COVID-19 crisis. A number of businesses

and philanthropic organizations have committed

funding for the program, which will include fully

subsidized internet connectivity for the rst six

months of the program.

The DPSCD, the city of Detroit, DTE Energy,

Quicken Loans and the Skillman Foundation have

created a committee to oversee the initiative for

the long term, including monitoring critical data

points, discussing any issues that may arise and

jointly problem solving. Both the DPSCD and

DTE Energy have also committed project man-

agers to the initiative.

For more information, visit https://bit.ly/3fatVBA. ■

(See ONLINE on page 2)

We’ve produced our Benchmarks Study annually for

almost 15 years now, and we got very used to report-

ing year-over-year growth in the low double digits.

Then, the reaction to the 2016 election produced

this massive spike in giving, and it turned out that

momentum just wasn’t sustainable. So the growth

line attened out almost entirely in 2018.

After those wild swings, the 10% growth in 2019

did align with the long-term trend line. There’s a lot

of uncertainty right now, and a lot of nonprots are

once again experiencing really severe volatility. But

my expectation, or at least my hope, is that as we