Cookie Control

This site uses cookies to store information on your computer. Some of these cookies are essential to make our site work and others help us to improve by giving us some insight into how the site is being used.

Some cookies on this site are essential, and the site won't work as expected without them. These cookies are set when you submit a form, login or interact with the site by doing something that goes beyond clicking on simple links.

We also use some non-essential cookies to anonymously track visitors or enhance your experience of the site. If you're not happy with this, we won't set these cookies but some nice features of the site may be unavailable.

(One cookie will be set to store your preference)
(Ticking this sets a cookie to hide this popup if you then hit close. This will not store any personal information)

About this tool

About Cookie Control

UK fundraisers are happy and positive, says benchmarking report

Status of UK Fundraising 2019 Benchmark Report
Image Credit: 
Blackbaud
9 July, 2019

 

Blackbaud and the Institute of Fundraising have launched The Status of UK Fundraising 2019 Benchmark Reportbased on a survey of over 1,000 fundraising professionals.

It is the second year that the report has been published, offering an in-depth view of the status the not-for-profit sector in the UK.

Amongst the key findings are:

  • Fundraisers are happy people: 84% enjoy their job and 66% are positive about the future of the sector.
  • GDPR hasn’t been as difficult as feared: 77% said that it made them think differently about engagement strategies and 31% said that it was a positive thing for their organisation.
  • Fundraisers were positive about the future of sector, however, they did see potential future challenges coming from external forces, specifically the economic climate.
  • The sector is digital-savvy: 94% of respondents using social media to communicate with supporters – however, smaller charities are less likely to have a digital strategy.
  • Those respondents with strategies that successfully increased fundraising income, said that the key deliverers of growth are innovation, skills and investment.

The report concludes that the overall agreement seen in responses show that sector is united in its approach to embracing opportunities and tackling challenges head-on.

It says that diversity across the sector as a whole and amongst senior leadership is a particular issue – a point highlighted in the fact that 94% of survey respondents were white.

It also found that the sector needs to do more to communicate, share and celebrate success.

“Alongside the findings on fundraisers positive feelings about their role and jobs, I was struck again by how key the elements of planning, investment, and strategy are to fundraising success,” said Peter Lewis, CEO, Institute of Fundraising.

“People and skills are essential – fundraisers who said their charity’s income had decreased were much more likely to say it was because they were not resourced effectively or did not have enough people with the right skills.”

The Status of UK Fundraising 2019 Benchmark Report was carried out by Blackbaud Europe together with the Institute of Fundraising. The data was collected in April and May 2019 via an online survey of 38 questions. A total of 1,012 respondents completed the survey, from a wide range of charity types and sizes.