We send out blog articles 1-2 times a month, and our content is meant to inspire non-profit leaders in their work even if they don’t use WaterGrass. Thank you for you interest!
Blog
16 Conservation Groups See 11% Growth in 2024 End-of-Year Appeals
by Baird Straughan
How did conservation nonprofits fare in their end-of-year appeals in 2024? Numbers are not in for the country as a whole, but for 16 small-to-midsized conservation organizations for which we have data, 2023 saw a recovery from 2023 declines in year-end giving from individuals. Year-over-year revenue from events, donations, major donations and memberships rose by approximately 11%, or 7% after inflation.
WaterGrass runs an annual “end-of-year” appeal workshop series, in which we walk through the steps of the appeal, from identifying target audiences to following up with non-responsive high donors. In our wrap-up session, one participant reported the workshops and their renewed focus on the appeal had nearly quadrupled end-of-year giving. Another said they feared donors would be burned out by the fraught political season, but that they were “pleasantly surprised” by the results, and attributed part of that to the strength of the stock market. (The EOY appeals ended before the current market decline.)
Overall, the average size of donations continued to rise, after a precipitous drop in 2020, when there was a sudden increase of small online donations, presumably as a result of the COVID pandemic and the isolation it caused.
The current rise in donation size masks a worrying trend. Most of the increase in 2024 EOY giving was due to larger donation size, rather than to an increase in the number of donors. Nationally, the number of nonprofit donors has actually declined the last couple years.
But for most of these 16 conservation groups the number of EOY donors held steady or increased slightly, perhaps because WaterGrass nonprofits tend to involve individuals as participants or volunteers in many of their activities, and so may have stronger recruitment and retention.
Looking forward to 2025, webinar participants were guarded. For some of them, cuts to the federal workforce and budget are already affecting their activities. For all, the unprecedented economic uncertainty may cause individual donors to hold back. The decline of the stock market means that some major donors may not have the capacity to donate as before. As a result, some participants were already revising their budget projections downward.
How did your organization do in the EOY 2024 appeal, and what changes do you expect for 2025?
Baird
PS. If you’re a WaterGrass user, you’ll find a new report in the WaterGrass Fundraising Analysis reports, labeled “October-December Individual Giving Year by Year.” Use it to analyze your organization’s historic EOY performance and identify trends for yourselves.
Finding the Right Software for Managing Volunteers and Donors
If you missed us at the Partnership for National Trails System’s Workshop this fall, we wanted to share a recording of our conference talk with you!
What’s the best software for managing volunteers and donors? The answer changes as your organization’s “data culture” matures. Chart your own organization’s path along our “trail of data culture,” and compare your experience of the Arizona Trail Association as it tried three separate software products which fit its needs better and better.
The software you use and how you use it can influence your bottom line and contribute to or hinder your organization’s ability to raise donations. A previous study of rivers organizations showed that over a three-year period, groups which kept their data in a single, shared database almost doubled their income from individual giving, whereas groups that kept their volunteer or donor data in written lists shrank.
Listen in as Wendy Lotze, the Arizona Trail Association‘s former Director of Volunteer Programs, shares what she learned on her journey from an early Microsoft Access database to a custom-built WaterGrass system which allowed them to track the contributions of their volunteers, donors and members in a holistic way.
You’ll also hear from WaterGrass’ Baird Straughan, who discusses what he’s seen in the evolution of databases and how new developments like Artificial Intelligence (AI) will radically change how we gather data and work with it.
Building Sustainable Funding from the Start
If you missed us at the Chesapeake Watershed Forum this Fall, we wanted to share a recording of our conference talk with you!
In 2000, the Potomac Riverkeeper Network (PRKN) started small, with just one part-time staff member. They successfully followed the traditional model of raising money first from their board, then from board friends, then reaching out to solicit memberships, and finally expanding to events and grants.
But times have changed, and today PRKN is working for a new mix of funding sources to ensure their sustainability.
And simultaneously, organizations from underserved communities have found completely new models of building sustainable fundraising.
In this recording, Emily Franc, PRKN’s former Vice President of Development & Philanthropy, shares the organization’s journey, from early direct mail campaigns to the creation of the large-scale summer festival, Riverpalooza. And WaterGrass Founder, Baird Straughan, compares PRKN’s experience to other organizations and assesses how fundraising models are changing today.
Webinar: Getting your Board on Board with Your EOY Appeal
The date for this webinar has passed. If you missed it and would like a copy of the session, please send an email to contact@watergrass.org to request a copy.
🫴❤️ Why not enlist your board’s support during a time of year when people are more willing to give? 🫴❤️
Your End-of-Year Appeal is the *perfect* time to engage your non-profit board (or re-engage a dormant one) with your fundraising! Join us for our webinar “Getting your Board on Board with Your EOY Appeal” to discuss how our clients have harnessed their EOY Fundraising to rally support and funds from their innermost circle. We’ll also hear from Baird Straughan, WaterGrass’ Director and a former nonprofit fundraiser, who will share his simple recipe for generating a board match donation.
Many nonprofits experience a significant surge in donations during the final quarter of the year, particularly in December. In fact, the 2024 M+R Benchmarks Study found that nonprofits raise between 17% and 34% of their online revenue in the last month of the year.
What’s the best database for conservation nonprofits? Your insights matter!
It's been over a decade since we surveyed the non-profit community to see what database systems they use and how they like them. It's high time we pulled some updated numbers. So tell us, what database system do you use to manage your non-profit work? Would you recommend it to others?
Results will be posted at this link in Fall 2024. And if you're in the market for a new platform, we hope these results will help you find the system that fits your organization's needs.