Fundratios finds sustainable growth in voluntary income
Howard Lake | 27 January 2003 | News
Fundratios 2001/2 report ‘strong and sustainable growth’ in levels of voluntary income, despite lower levels of corporate support.
Fundratios 2001/2, the benchmarking management tool for fundraising professionals reports that levels of overall voluntary income for 2001/02 increased by 10.8%, with a three-year trend of 29% growth.
Completed in November 2002, the report reveals that areas that saw growth were led by lotteries and competitions which achieved a growth rate of 99.2%. Committed giving rose by 15.4%, reflecting increased levels of investment, says the report.
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On the other hand, for the first time since 1996, corporate giving decreased by 1.6%. In 1998 it had been growing at 24.4%. Local/community fundraising income fell overall by 5.6%, although smaller charities performed better than the larger ones: larger charities saw a 8.5% drop while smaller charities enjoyed a 12.4% rise. Income from direct marketing appeals declined for the third time in five years, down by 4.3%.
Fundratios reports that “cost effectiveness as measured by income per £1 invested in fundraising fell back close to its long term average of £5.09.”
Thirty-eight charities, with a combined voluntary income of over £1 billion, took part in Fundratios 2001/2. Most of the data used relates to the year ending March 2002.
Fundratios is run by the Centre for Interfirm Comparisons in cooperation with the Institute of Fundraising. It helps participating charities to benchmark their fundraising activities each other. It offers a valuable source of in-depth analysis on the growth, costs and returns of the full range of fundraising activity.
The next Fundratios Project will start in April 2003 and charities are invited to request a Fundratios 2003 Marketing Brochure and Registration Form.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.