First pan-European fundraising benchmarking survey begins
Howard Lake | 22 May 2008 | News
Blackbaud Europe and the Resource Alliance are launching the first survey to explore the state of fundraising in Europe.
Blackbaud has conducted its annual State of the Nonprofit Industry (SONI) survey in the United States since 2003 and in the Asia Pacific region since 2005. It was extended to the UK last year. This year, in partnership with The Resource Alliance, Blackbaud Europe will extend it to France, the Netherlands, Germany, and Switzerland in multiple languages.
“The SONI survey is a great resource that brings value to all who participate,” said Andrew Mosawi, Blackbaud’s vice president of international business development. “By extending the survey to Europe, we hope to identify specific trends facing the sector that will help empower fundraisers to better serve their organisations.”
The survey will focus on four key areas facing non-profits: general operations; fundraising; technology/Internet usage; and accountability and stewardship.
Respondents will be asked to share information on:
• The top three fundraising methods for their organisations
• The percentage increase or decrease of income delivered through each fundraising method they expect to experience in the next 12 months
• The methods they most commonly use to communicate with donors
• If they have seen an increase in donors asking for information about how their donation is being used.
Simon Collings, the Resource Alliance’s chief executive officer, is looking forward to developing “a source of rich information about trends in attitudes and fundraising practice across a range of countries”.
He said: “This survey is about getting insights into how fundraisers in a number of European countries are thinking.
“It is enormously useful if you are a fundraiser to be able to compare your own judgements about where best to invest with those of your peers. It is also useful to be able to gauge how far the challenges you face, for instance in terms of IT systems, are typical of your sector”.
The SONI survey launched in the United Kingdom today. Participating continental European counties will follow in June.
The results will be presented at the 28th International Fundraising Congress, which takes place from 14 to 17 October 2008 at Leeuwenhorst in the Netherlands.
Those participating in the survey will be entered into a prize draw to win a Dell laptop.
www.blackbaud.co.uk/SurveyRA
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.