The sixth annual #GivingTuesday movement continued to grow again in 2017. According to Blackbaud data, online giving on #GivingTuesday 2017 was up 28% compared to 2016.
Blackbaud, the world’s leading cloud software company powering social good, processed more than $60.9 million in online donations from across more than 7,200 nonprofit organizations in the United States. Online giving has experienced double-digit growth every year since the original #GivingTuesday in 2012.
Online donation volumes were up once again this year. There was a 20% increase in the number of online gifts on #GivingTuesday. The average online donation amount was $134 and this was a 6% increase compared to 2016.
MOBILE GIVING TRENDS
Mobile giving continued to grow in 2017. Overall, 26% of online donations on #GivingTuesday 2017 were made on a mobile device. That peaked at 42% and the low was 18.4% for the day.
Today’s modern donor is a mobile device donor. Every year the number of online donations made on a mobile device steadily increases. Nonprofits need to optimize their email, website, and donation forms for mobile devices.
WHAT IS NEXT FOR #GIVINGTUESDAY
#GivingTuesday is now in its sixth year and the giving bubble hasn’t burst yet. There are some who love it. Some who hate it. But it does generate a tremendous amount of awareness about the sector – not to mention the money that it raises for charities.
The #GivingTuesday data would also suggest that it isn’t an invented occasion that’s dominated solely by the very large nonprofits. Their share of #GivingTuesday revenue continues to shrink and it’s medium-sized and smaller nonprofits raising a greater share each year.
#GivingTuesday is a real movement now. It’s over the five-year hump and is still growing. Moving forward the philanthropic sector and nonprofit leaders need to begin shifting the conversation away from counting how much was raised to looking at whether or not #GivingTuesday donors are retained, regained, and stewarded properly. We should stop counting and start measuring.