Eat Your Heart Out, America!
Rapidata, the UK’s leading processor of direct-debit charitable and commercial transactions, has just released a massive study of monthly giving in the UK, with a special focus on 2008 to 2009 comparisons.
To put this in context, 37% of donors in the UK are monthly givers, and such giving amounts to 31% of the giving total.
For fundraisers in the UK, the chief news was that monthly direct-debits are on the rebound, with monthly cancellation rates dropping steadily in 2009 from a January high of 5.6% to December’s low of 2.6%. This, plus the fact that direct-debit giving rose 18% in 2009 over 2008 amongst the 117 charities studied, is taken to indicate that UK fundraisers have seen the bottoming out of recession-induced reductions in giving.
Interestingly, the biggest rebound occurred in the arts & culture sector, a sector that has taken one of the biggest recession hits in the US market.
Now, US fundraisers, get ready to be truly envious …
The average monthly direct-debit gift in the UK is £11.95, representing an annual contribution in US dollars of roughly $220.
An interesting exercise for US fundraisers might be to benchmark your monthly giving rates, amounts, cancellation history etc against the UK direct-debit experience.
The report notes that only 8% of direct-debit givers cancel their gifts by contacting the charity (most cancel with their bank). This does put a premium on systematic donor communications programs.
Very interesting study. Well done rapidata.
Tom
P.S. Thanks to Jenny Turner for the heads-up.
2 responses to “Eat Your Heart Out, America!”
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How does this compare to the same stats for US on monthly giving?
thanks Gail Perry
Tom, I am fascinated (as always 🙂 though happily not *completely* overcome with envy. From what I can tell, the move toward monthly debits in the U.S. has indeed been slow but also quite steady thanks to effective online and cross-channel promotions by some well known — and not quite so well known — charities. I know a number of U.S. non-profits that can now claim a noticeable proportion of their overall income via monthly givers. Most striking has been the surprisingly high median gift size — I’ve just scanned the data for several U.S. charities and it looks like average annual total is running around $400. I know we’re no where close to the 37% donor penetration … but perhaps the Brits still have something to envy on this side on the Atlantic?