Sep 2025
Nonprofit Trends by MissionWired
Stay wired with us for insights on building a better digital world.
The Narrative: Context & Takeaways
Results begin to pick up after a slow start to September – and timely, relevant connections to the moment help organizations break through.
September began with a saturated news cycle with international conflict and domestic discord over issues ranging from health to gun violence to immigration. The high frequency of so many conversations at once may have had an impact on many nonprofits, causing a slow start to the month in fundraising. For many organizations, results picked up as the month carried on but programs only just reached their projections or saw softer results compared to 2024.
Some softness was to be expected as September often marks the end of the quieter summer fundraising period before things pick up in Q4 – but an uncertain economy paired with a heavy news cycle may have escalated challenges for nonprofits, as many communities may be bracing for an economic downturn.
Across nonprofits of all sizes, we are seeing softness in results year over year in September – though year-to-date revenue is still holding a promising +5% over 2024. As in previous months, results vary between organizations and verticals. Donors are responding to the needs of specific causes as they’re impacted by emergencies and breaking news, so organizations that remain nimble – keeping their messages relevant and timely to current conflicts – are driving growth. With Hunger Action Month falling in September, for example, food banks and hunger organizations that connected their messaging to the significant funding challenges and increased demand of the moment to their annual tentpole campaigns drove powerful year-over-year growth.
As the final, busiest months of the year approach, our advice for driving growth remains consistent: Draw direct connections between your organization and the challenges of this moment whenever they are relevant – and continue to prioritize bold investments in acquisition to optimize your largest and best audiences ahead of year-end.
+5%
Average revenue increase CYTD
-6%
Average total gifts decrease CYTD
-5%
Decrease in average new donors MOM
$66
Average gift in September
Navigate Results:
Results
| 2024 | 2025 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average Revenue | $1,513,705.73 | $1,584,233.36 | + 4.66% |
| Average Total Gifts | 38,680 | 36,235 | - 6.32% |
| Open Rate | 26.12% | 32.46% | + 24.28% |
| Click Rate | 1.45% | 1.70% | + 17.02% |
| New Donors | 43.35% | 41.72% | - 3.75% |
| Opt-Out Rate | 0.34% | 0.33% | - 2.36% |
| Average Revenue | $256,022.24 | $170,240.54 | - 33.51% |
| Average Total Gifts | 6,394 | 3,366 | - 47.35% |
| Open Rate | 28.60% | 31.71% | + 10.88% |
| Click Rate | 1.29% | 1.71% | + 32.19% |
| New Donors | 41.87% | 40.27% | - 3.81% |
| Opt-Out Rate | 0.31% | 0.50% | + 58.87% |
| Average Revenue | $263,551.82 | $201,402.64 | - 23.58% |
| Average Revenue | $863,497.03 | $1,086,946.56 | + 25.88% |
| Average Revenue | $3,414,068.33 | $3,464,350.89 | + 1.47% |
| Average Total Gifts | 3,534 | 2,932 | - 17.03% |
| Average Total Gifts | 15,286 | 17,487 | + 14.40% |
| Average Total Gifts | 97,221 | 88,286 | - 10.12% |
| Open Rate | 23.34% | 32.34% | + 38.52% |
| Open Rate | 25.89% | 29.76% | + 14.95% |
| Open Rate | 29.12% | 35.28% | + 21.15% |
| Click Rate | 1.57% | 2.09% | + 33.10% |
| Click Rate | 1.43% | 1.63% | + 13.43% |
| Click Rate | 1.35% | 1.38% | + 2.05% |
| New Donors | 45.23% | 41.84% | - 7.49% |
| New Donors | 43.29% | 43.01% | - 0.66% |
| New Donors | 41.53% | 40.32% | - 2.91% |
| Opt-Out Rate | 0.38% | 0.33% | - 12.73% |
| Opt-Out Rate | 0.33% | 0.35% | + 7.56% |
| Opt-Out Rate | 0.31% | 0.30% | - 4.20% |
| Average Revenue | $54,968.80 | $38,404.67 | - 30.13% |
| Average Revenue | $159,292.43 | $184,987.53 | + 16.13% |
| Average Revenue | $553,805.48 | $287,329.44 | - 48.12% |
| Average Total Gifts | 693 | 503 | - 27.36% |
| Average Total Gifts | 2,775 | 3,339 | + 20.31% |
| Average Total Gifts | 15,712 | 6,256 | - 60.18% |
| Open Rate | 23.33% | 30.64% | + 31.33% |
| Open Rate | 31.28% | 29.51% | - 5.65% |
| Open Rate | 31.18% | 34.97% | + 12.15% |
| Click Rate | 1.60% | 2.36% | + 47.98% |
| Click Rate | 1.08% | 1.75% | + 61.88% |
| Click Rate | 1.20% | 1.01% | - 15.75% |
| New Donors | 46.13% | 40.48% | - 12.26% |
| New Donors | 39.40% | 40.51% | + 2.84% |
| New Donors | 40.08% | 39.83% | - 0.63% |
| Opt-Out Rate | 0.47% | 0.46% | - 1.95% |
| Opt-Out Rate | 0.26% | 0.58% | + 120.69% |
| Opt-Out Rate | 0.20% | 0.45% | + 119.68% |
Revenue
Average Revenue Raised
The view below shows the average revenue raised across all digital channels for a nonprofit organization – excluding mid-level ($1,000+) donations and recurring (monthly) donations.
Average Total Gifts
Included below is the average number of total 1x gifts per nonprofit organization across all digital channels – excluding mid-level ($1,000+) and recurring (monthly) donations.
Average Gift
Defined as total revenue/total gifts, this chart shows the average 1x donation made across digital channels – excluding mid-level ($1,000+) and recurring (monthly) donations.
Acquisition
Average New Donors
Across all digital channels, the chart below shows, on average, how many 1x donations a nonprofit organization saw from first-time donors – excluding mid-level ($1,000+) and recurring (monthly) donations.
Average Active List Composition
Looking at all active email files, the chart below shows the average percentage of new acquisitions (new leads) that were added to the email file. This view shows the current year-to-date over previous years.
Email Engagement
Open Rate
Defined as total opens/total sent, this view shows the average email open rates across nonprofit organizations.
Click Rate
The view below shows the average click rate, defined as unique clicks/unique opens across nonprofit organizations.
Opt-Out Rate
The view below shows the average opt-out rate, defined as total opt-outs/total emails sent across nonprofit organizations.
Our Methodology
The results displayed are a view of more than 60 nonprofits across a variety of sectors. We have taken the metrics from these nonprofits and created averages for each of the KPIs so that nonprofits can easily see how their results compare. All fundraising metrics encompass all digital channels – including but not limited to email, SMS, advertising, and web. Each metric is broken down by nonprofit size, defined by the size of the active email file.
- Large: sending to 300,000 + unique emails in a month
- Medium: sending to 100,000-299,999 unique emails in a month
- Small: sending to less than 100,000 unique emails in a month
These metrics have excluded donors and donations more than $1,000 – often defined as mid-level – as well as monthly donors and donations.