As any non-profit organization knows, this is the time of year when most donations come in. Typically, this is when large organizations host their fund-raising gala events and when religious organizations make their strongest bids for donations.
So, take note if you are just beginning your non-profit, this is probably going to be the time of year you’ll focus much of your fundraising efforts on. The following information from the National Center for Charitable Statistics (NCCS) will hopefully serve to eliminate any doubt you might have had about the tendency to give more at this time of year and help you to establish your plans moving forward..
- The last few months of the year make up what is commonly called the Giving Season for the nonprofit community. As the holidays near, people may feel encouraged to give more generously than during the rest of the year.
- In a 2007 study, The Center on Philanthropy (COP) at Indiana University found that their respondents reported giving about 24 percent of their annual total between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day.
- A more recent COP studyfocused on high–net worth donors (defined as households with income greater than $200,000 and net worth over $1,000,000) found that 42.7 percent of those surveyed gave more during the holidays than the rest of the year; 44.4 percent reported giving “about the same.”
- From the nonprofit’s perspective, many organizations report similar conclusions. According to the Winter 2011 issue of the Nonprofit Fundraising Survey, over half of the nonprofit organizations queried reported that they received over a quarter of their contributions between October and December, with 16 percent of all organizations receiving over half their year’s total contributions during those same months.
(http://nccs.urban.org/nccs/statistics/charitable-giving-in-america-some-facts-and-figures.cfm)
If you need help determining how best to approach donors during the holiday season, give my office a call.
