Overall charitable giving to nonprofits was up 4.1 percent while online giving spiked 9.9 percent for the three months ending in September, compared to the same time period in 2017, according to the latest figures from The Blackbaud Index.
Year-to-date, overall giving through September is up 4.5 percent and online giving is up 11 percent, according to Blackbaud.
The Charleston, S.C.-based fundraising and financial technology firm, tracks almost $32 billion in U.S.-based charitable giving both overall and online, as well as by subsector and size of organization. The Blackbaud Index is updated on the first of each month and based on a three-month rolling average of year-over-year percentage changes.
Large organizations ($10 million or more in revenue) saw the biggest spike in giving, up 6.5 percent, compared with more modest increases of 1.4 percent for medium organizations ($1 million to $10 million) and 0.8 percent for small organizations (less than $1 million). The script was reversed for online giving, where small organizations had the biggest jump, up 17.4 percent, compared with 7.5 percent for medium organizations and 4.4 percent for large organizations.
Of the 11 types of subsectors tracked, five experienced increases in overall giving for the three months ending in September. When it came to online giving, only one subsector saw a decline.
For overall giving:
- +6.2 percent, human services;
- +4.4 percent, public and society benefit;
- +2.5 percent, K-12 education;
- +1.6 percent, arts and culture;
- +1.5 percent, faith-based;
- -0.3 percent, international affairs;
- -0.5 percent, healthcare;
- -0.8 percent, higher education;
- -0.8 percent, medical research;
- -4.7 percent, foundations; and,
- -6.2 percent, environment and animal welfare.
For online giving:
- +17.8 percent, arts and culture;
- +14.1 percent, faith-based;
- +12.5 percent, public and society benefit;
- +9.7 percent, healthcare;
- +9.5 percent, higher education;
- +5.0 percent, human services;
- +4.4 percent, foundations;
- +2.6 percent, K-12 education;
- +0.3 percent, medical research;
- 0 percent, environment and animal welfare; and,
- -4.5 percent, international affairs.
