Nonprofit Fundraising During An Election Year? You Bet!

March 25, 2016

Just because it’s a big election year doesn’t mean your organization should shy away from nonprofit fundraising.  According to a new report, charitable giving actually sees a boost from political donors rather than a drop.

Bricks R Us, an engraved brick company, has been helping its clients with fundraising for more than 25 years.  We enjoy sharing news and trends concerning fundraising with our clients and readers of this blog.  With 2016 being a presidential election year, we thought this report would be of great interest.

Nonprofit Fundraising During An Election Year?  You Bet!

The report was developed by Blackbaud, a South Carolina-based software provider, with data from a 400,000 donor cross section of the Federal Election Commission and its own database.  The report compared giving between the last presidential election year in 2012 and the preceding year of 2011.  Among its findings:

  • Younger donors give more.  Political donors ages 25 to 34 increased charitable giving by 10.8 percent from 2011 to 2012.  Those 18 to 24 increased giving by 3.4 percent.  Even non-political donors of this age group increased giving.
  • Greater income does not mean greater giving.  Political donors with a household income of $49,000 or less increased charitable giving by 5.3 percent, while those making $50,000 to $99,000 were up by .7 percent.  Giving was down 1.1 percent for those in the $100,000 to $149,000 range, but up .9 percent for those earning $150,000 and up.
  • The cause matters.  Political donors increased giving by 14.5 percent to human services causes and 6.8 percent to public and society benefit organizations.  Both of these areas also saw increases by nonpolitical donors.  However, political donors also increased giving by 5.3 percent to arts and culture.

Reports like this one remind us all to continue our efforts to raise funds for the causes we believe in and the nonprofits that support them.  Don’t let the political season hamper your nonprofit fundraising efforts, although the report suggests not scheduling events close to a primary election date.

What do you think of this report?  Comment below.  We’d love to hear from you.  And if you’re ready to get started on an engraved brick fundraising project, contact us today.

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