Securing new donors is the most significant challenge facing Australian not-for-profits according to new research by Blackbaud Pacific. The research also identified a rising interest in the internet by not-for-profits, and staff turnover is another serious issue.

Securing new donors is the most significant challenge facing Australian not-for-profits according to new research by Blackbaud Pacific. The research also identified a rising interest in the internet by not-for-profits, and staff turnover is another serious issue.

The research was conducted towards the end of 2005, and was designed to gain greater insight to the fundraising and marketing practices of Australian not-for-profits. Development staff and other executives from more than 200 organisations across the not-for-profit sector responded to the survey.

When it comes to methods of raising funds, direct marketing was unsurprisingly the most common strategy (see Figure 6), however only 27% of organisations frequently made one-on-one solicitations to major donors.

When you consider that the vast majority of funds donated to some organisations come from a small number of wealthy individuals, it seems the major gifts area is being under utilised by not-for-profits.

And while major gifts are often associated with one-off capital campaigns, which probably explains the 40% of organisations that “periodically” use this method of fundraising, why should organisations wait until the next capital campaign comes around before hunting for major gifts? An ongoing major gifts program aimed at supporting an organisation’s mission and vision should be part of the fundraising mix for any not-for-profit that is serious about fundraising.

When asked to rank a list of challenges facing not-for-profits, recruiting and retaining donors were seen as the highest priority issues (see Figure 7). While this confirms what our common sense tells us in our individual organisations, the black and white of numbers shows that these are broad concerns across the sector.

A rising interest in the internet/email and acknowledgement of the role it can play in marketing and relationship building was another trend that emerged from the survey. For example, Figure 2 shows that organisations are increasing their use of email to communicate with supporters more than any other medium such as mail or phone.