“…perhaps the most critical partner in our foundation’s infrastructure is the array of nonprofits in Boulder County.”
The strength of a community foundation comes from the partners it has in the community it serves. Community Foundation Boulder County collaborates with donors, entrepreneurs, social advocates, data gatherers, and philanthropic and financial advisors, just to name a few.
But perhaps the most critical partner in our foundation’s infrastructure is the array of nonprofits in Boulder County. Foundations need nonprofits to carry out the work of change. In fact, we can’t do much without them.
The Community Foundation connects people. We’re a catalyst for ideas. But in the end, we need a healthy nonprofit sector to help us accomplish our goals of a more equitable Boulder County.
So, in January of this year, we wondered: How did nonprofits fare in 2018, an incredibly volatile, unpredictable year of change?
We created a very short, informal survey to take the temperature of Boulder County nonprofits. We asked four simple questions:
- How much does your organization raise annually?
- How was your most recent end-of-year revenue relative to the prior year?
- Do you have any explanation for your results?
- Do you have any hypotheses for why your performance was what it was?
In general, the results were encouraging, but perhaps not what was expected. Here are a few highlights:
- Nonprofit Size: 50% of the groups who responded are raising less than $500K. This parallels roughly with the state of Colorado where 60% of the nonprofits across the state have budgets of less than a half-million dollars.
- Overall Revenue: 57% of all the organizations that responded had an overall increase in revenue in 2018 from the prior fiscal year, while 27% said their revenue was flat year-on-year, and 15% said it was down.
- Colorado Gives Day: 30% saw an increase in Colorado Gives Day giving, while 34% saw flat results. and 23% saw reduced income. Colorado Gives Day overall saw a decrease in dollars raised for the first time in a decade in 2018.
- Giving Tuesday: While Giving Tuesday was a big win overall in 2018 with a $6M increase in revenue across the country, 57% of Boulder County nonprofits who responded said Giving Tuesday revenue was down year-on-year.
When we asked what respondents thought was behind their fundraising performance in 2018, the majority reported specifics their organization took to increase fundraising success:
- Stronger ask: Respondents said that they increased their “asking” in the areas of major gifts and corporate giving. Some referred to a more robust year-end appeal. Still others used matching gifts to drive increased giving.
- Added fundraising capacity: Respondents referred to hiring development staff or having new leadership that was willing to make the ask.
- Increased outreach and marketing: Respondents mentioned that investments in marketing and communications drove their fundraising results.
- Changes in programming: At least one respondent said that changes in what they do for the community increased their fundraising.
- Many respondents commented that the proximity of Colorado Gives Day (first week of December) and Giving Tuesday (the Tuesday after Thanksgiving) is a real problem. It’s confusing for Colorado donors and potentially hurt Colorado Gives Day revenue in 2018. Others thought that Colorado Gives Day had just naturally leveled off.
And there were comments about external factors, too, like the stock market, tax reform, and the political environment. Generally, respondents seemed unsure if these external factors had any real effect on fundraising results. (At the national level, fundraising experts and data gatherers are also unsure what affect, if any, these external issues had. See this blog by fundraising guru Roger Craver to learn more.)
The upshot? In this small, not-statistically-relevant survey of 50 local nonprofits, we found reasons to be hopeful: more than half of these small organizations had increased results in 2018. And many of the respondents were investing in their organizations in some way, which is really the only way to grow fundraising for the long-term.
A healthy nonprofit ecosystem is a good thing for donors, service providers, activists, volunteers, and the community we all serve together. Despite incredible pressures, challenges, and a multitude of distractions, the nonprofit sector pushes on.
For those of you who responded to the survey, thank you for your insights. And to all who are involved in the nonprofit community – volunteers, staff, and donors alike – thank you for all you do for our community. Boulder County is at its best when all we all work together!
