Is your school or university struggling to find fundraising success? Do you have a hard time understanding your donor base and making sense of popular fundraising trends? Then this article is for you! The following 20 school fundraising statistics may surprise you, but they will provide insights to help increase your success. Plus, we’ve added five great ideas to help you put these statistics to work!
The school and university fundraising landscape has significantly transformed in an era of evolving technology and philanthropy. Members of Generation X and millennials, now parents and alumni, are at the forefront of this change. Understanding the giving habits of your donors and the trends and activities that impact school fundraising is crucial.
We’ve included some surprising statistics to help you better understand your school’s donor base and provided school fundraising ideas and tips to help you find long-term success.
The following 20 statistics provide an excellent overview of how schools are meeting their fundraising goals and where they can improve, including how they can better reach the Generation X and millennial parents and alums that typically make up the primary donor base for preschools, primary and secondary schools, and higher institutions.
1. 7 out of 10 donors want to hear from their higher education institution at least quarterly.
2. 48% of schools say the number of new donors has increased in the past 12 months, as compared to 57% across other sectors.
3. 56% of schools report retaining over half of their new donors over the past 12 months, compared to 67% in other sectors.
4. Email prompts 31% of online donations made by Gen Xers.
5. 40% of millennial donors are enrolled in a monthly giving program.
6. 61% of donor respondents say they are very or extremely likely to give to their undergraduate institution in the future.
7. Donors earning at least $150,000 are more likely to donate to their institution.
8. 69% of alums say they are interested in giving on an annual basis in the future.
9. 55% of alums said they would give a small gift of $100 or less.
10. Giving to higher education institutions in the United States reached $58 billion in FY2023, a 2.5% decline over the previous year.
11. School groups raise more than $1.5 billion each year by selling products.
12. This product fundraising brings in approximately 80% of the dollars that are used to provide “extras” for schools.
13. 35% of schools average $0 to $5,000 in annual earnings from fundraising, with 27.1% earning more than $75,000.
14. 67% of principals turn fundraising decisions over to their PTO or PTA.
15. Higher education institutions were twice as likely to require non-essential information to complete a gift when compared to other nonprofits.
16. Only 2 out of 10 higher education organizations give strong reasons to donate on their donation pages.
17. 1 in 10 higher education organizations do not provide the option for recurring gifts.
18. 9 out of 10 higher education organizations do not share reasons to make a monthly gift.
19. Over half of higher education organizations do not expand on the impact of their gift on the thank-you page.
20. 44% of higher education organizations provide no next step or action of any kind on their thank-you page.
There are quite a few things that stand out in these school fundraising statistics. As we delve deeper into schools’ donor behavior and fundraising activities, look for areas where your school could improve.
Parents of students in elementary, secondary, colleges, and universities are now primarily millennials or from Generation X. Both of these generations are familiar with the internet and typically include it in all areas of their lives because they either grew up with it or learned to adapt early on. No wonder donors from these generations are more open and likely to give online!
With 40% of millennials already signed up for recurring donations, it’s a significant oversight that one in 10 universities don’t offer that option on their websites. And nine out of 10 that do have this option do not provide compelling reasons to drive their existing recurring donations. Remember, if you don’t ask, you won’t receive the gift!
Pro tip: Make signing up and managing recurring donation plans as easy as possible to encourage more participation. Donorbox allows you to add recurring donation options to your school’s fundraising pages and ask for daily, weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual gifts.
Unfortunately, school and college fundraising has fallen behind other nonprofit sectors when it comes to new and recurring donors, as is seen in the above list of school fundraising statistics.
One reason for this may be institutions’ limited response after receiving the donation. Providing details about the impact of a gift and encouraging further action soon after the donor gives will increase the chances of a repeat donation.
Your website’s thank-you page is a powerful tool! Providing an infographic or video that shows how gifts help current and future students significantly impacts donors. Also, share additional options to give back to reach those seeking volunteer and advocacy opportunities.
Make a small change: Add an e-newsletter sign-up form to the thank-you page of your website. Then, send out a monthly update with content like impact reports, events, and volunteer activities.
It may seem like an excellent idea for 67% of school principals to turn fundraising over to PTAs or PTOs. After all, most primary schools don’t have fundraising staff. The problem is that PTAs and PTOs are parent-led organizations. While passionate, most parents do not have fundraising experience and will end their support after their kids leave school.
Instead, school administrations should work alongside these organizations and take a significant role in fundraising. Online fundraising tools like Donorbox can make it easy for parents to give one-time and recurring donations and help parent fundraising groups raise more with peer-to-peer and crowdfunding campaigns.
Schools can also form community partnerships with local businesses to support the facility and students. Adding online fundraising and relationship-building tactics can lessen reliance on product sales.
Keep reading if you’re ready to increase your school’s fundraising success! We’ve listed five ideas to help you connect with new and recurring donors based on the learnings from our school fundraising statistics.
Online fundraising is necessary today. Schools and higher education institutions cannot afford to ignore this fact. In addition to ease of use, online fundraising tools provide various options for donors, including peer-to-peer and crowdfunding campaigns, online stores, and recurring donations.
Here’s a great example of a crowdfunding campaign in action. An English department instructor is raising funds for less privileged students who do not have the funds to buy books at the school’s annual book fair.
Start Crowdfunding with Donorbox
Do your donors know they could double their gift amounts? Many corporations match their employees’ donations to their favorite charities. Make it easy for your school’s supporters to double their annual and monthly gifts in just a few steps by using tools like the Donorbox + Double the Donation integration.
A matching gift challenge is another excellent way to excite donors! Contact local businesses or major donors to find a significant fundraising gift and develop a campaign to match that amount. You’ll raise more money and motivate parents, alums, and more to get involved.
While most alums are interested in giving to their institution yearly, statistics show that higher education institutions are not leveraging this properly. Colleges and universities can change these numbers by adding recurring giving options to their donation form, making it easy for donors to sign up and forget about it until next month, quarter, or year.
Not sure how to get started? Here are 10 tips to help you design an incredible recurring giving program.
Schools can’t solely rely on parents to meet their fundraising goals and expect long-term success. Relationships with businesses, other community leaders, and groups must be part of your school’s strategic plans.
Pro tip: Reach out to community members with details about an exciting event that offers affordable vendor and sponsorship opportunities. Look for businesses that want to market to your students and families.
Most donors donate to their alma mater because they want to give back. This may be enough to get that first donation, but without hearing about these gifts’ impact, the money will likely dry up. A monthly or quarterly newsletter with impact reports and infographics is an easy way to share how donors’ gifts are making a difference in the lives of students and the community.
Did you know: Donorbox makes reporting easier thanks to a selection of ready-to-use reporting templates? Find out more here.
As is shown in these interesting school fundraising statistics, a sustainable school fundraising strategy relies on more than simply soliciting donations. It requires a strong focus on building relationships with various stakeholders like PTA members, parents, businesses, and alums.
To increase support for your school, consider donor behavior and how you can best leverage tools like online giving forms. Then, create innovative approaches to fundraising that match donors’ interests.
Donorbox is here to support you every step of the way. Whether it’s through setting up recurring donations, helping you create awesome crowdfunding campaigns, or setting up a game-changing peer-to-peer campaign.
This Donorbox beginner’s guide will help you get started, guiding you through how to connect with donors by using our affordable online fundraising tools.
If you’re looking for fun and unique ideas for your next school fundraiser, we’ve also written articles on cheap fundraising ideas and community service ideas.
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Kristine Ensor is a freelance writer with over a decade of experience working with local and international nonprofits. As a nonprofit professional she has specialized in fundraising, marketing, event planning, volunteer management, and board development.
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Kristine Ensor