When Zero Is A Positive Number

For the first time in five years, nonprofits avoided a net loss in giving but continue to lose more donors than they gain, according to a new study by the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) and the Urban Institute. The 2012 Fundraising Effectiveness Survey Report, part of the Fundraising Effectiveness Project (FEP), shows that the “net gain in giving” for charities responding to the survey in 2011 was zero, after two years of losses (-$5 in 2010 and -$19 in 2009). The last time gains exceeded losses in giving was in 2007, when there was a net gain of $14.
The report cautioned that growth in giving isn’t keeping pace with the gross domestic product and inflation, which would require a net gain in giving of $6. For every $100 a nonprofit gained in 2011 from new donors, increased giving by current donors and the return of former donors, it lost $100 through smaller gifts from current donors and the departure of those who gave in 2010. Read more...