Apr 2025
Nonprofit Trends by MissionWired
Stay wired with us for insights on building a better digital world.
The Narrative: Context & Takeaways
April Increases Suggest Opportunities for Nonprofit Growth
When we looked at our dashboard for trends in Q1, results across the nonprofit industry showed the traditional hallmarks of economic uncertainty and its impact on giving: a decrease in new donors and total gifts with a slight increase in average gift filling some of that gap. We’re excited to share that the data in April is telling a different story – with significant shifts in donor response.
The April results in our dashboards below suggest that donors are mobilizing in this moment, even in the face of continuing economic uncertainty. Donors are responding to emergency messaging from organizations across nonprofit verticals around budget cuts and the impact of new policies from the current administration. Local food programs, health agencies, and environmental justice organizations are looking to their audiences of supporters in the face of funding cuts, and their appeals are driving response. Supporters also responded to a number of rapid response efforts in April, including the earthquake that hit Myanmar in late March and the gun violence that took place at Florida State University in mid-April.
The impact that donor mobilization had on results in April? Growth in total revenue, a significant increase in new donors, and notable increases in the total number of gifts.
In spite of all this encouraging growth, 2025 is showing the lowest percentage of new acquisition compared to the past two years. In the face of funding cuts and financial insecurity, it’s an understandable metric – but the current momentum from supporters presents acquisition as a clear opportunity right now. With the data showing growing rates of new donors and gifts in a typically quiet fundraising time, now is an opportunity to invest in acquisition and make the most of the momentum and response we’re seeing from donors across the industry. And consider how your program can lean into this moment in your messaging to supporters, too – if you’d been considering a new fundraising campaign responsive to breaking news or the current environment, we’ve seen these efforts resonating with supporters of nonprofits across verticals.
As results continue to come back through the end of May and into the summer, our team will be monitoring closely to understand whether what we’re seeing in April is a short-term period of response or an ongoing trend. We hope you’ll be on the lookout for our next installment of metrics and takeaways from across the industry as we continue to track and learn from the state of the nonprofit fundraising landscape in real time.
+23%
Average revenue increase YOY
+51%
Average increase in total gifts YOY
3,700+
Average new donors in April
$73
Average gift
Navigate Results:
Results
| 2024 | 2025 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average Revenue | $452,741.95 | $377,453.54 | - 16.63% |
| Average Total Gifts | 8,577 | 6,856 | - 20.06% |
| Open Rate | 26.64% | 30.98% | + 16.31% |
| Click Rate | 1.40% | 1.29% | - 7.88% |
| New Donors | 43.05% | 46.50% | + 8.03% |
| Opt-Out Rate | 0.38% | 0.33% | - 13.73% |
| Average Revenue | $126,715.65 | $155,067.19 | + 22.37% |
| Average Total Gifts | 2,208 | 3,333 | + 51.00% |
| Open Rate | 24.83% | 29.88% | + 20.33% |
| Click Rate | 1.43% | 1.13% | - 20.54% |
| New Donors | 42.03% | 40.51% | - 3.61% |
| Opt-Out Rate | 0.24% | 0.20% | - 19.19% |
| Average Revenue | $142,620.60 | $62,660.66 | - 56.06% |
| Average Revenue | $203,043.38 | $235,374.75 | + 15.92% |
| Average Revenue | $1,012,561.88 | $834,325.20 | - 17.60% |
| Average Total Gifts | 2,111 | 668 | - 68.35% |
| Average Total Gifts | 3,688 | 3,527 | - 4.36% |
| Average Total Gifts | 19,933 | 16,374 | - 21.74% |
| Open Rate | 23.11% | 28.46% | + 23.18% |
| Open Rate | 27.31% | 31.87% | + 16.70% |
| Open Rate | 29.5% | 32.61% | + 10.55% |
| Click Rate | 1.22% | 1.17% | - 4.75% |
| Click Rate | 1.81% | 1.17% | - 11.23% |
| Click Rate | 1.16% | 1.09% | - 5.95% |
| New Donors | 45.92% | 48.88% | + 6.45% |
| New Donors | 39.33% | 44.91% | + 14.18% |
| New Donors | 43.89% | 45.72% | + 4.17% |
| Opt-Out Rate | 0.33% | 0.24% | - 27.32% |
| Opt-Out Rate | 0.36% | 0.30% | - 18.39% |
| Opt-Out Rate | 0.21% | 0.45% | + 112.40% |
| Average Revenue | $41,909.64 | $34,518.35 | - 17.64% |
| Average Revenue | $74,516.47 | $95,349.38 | + 27.96% |
| Average Revenue | $263,720.83 | $335,333.84 | + 27.15% |
| Average Total Gifts | 624 | 398 | - 36.15% |
| Average Total Gifts | 1,414 | 1,676 | + 18.52% |
| Total Gifts | 4,585 | 7,926 | + 72.88% |
| Open Rate | 21.66% | 23.75% | + 9.63% |
| Open Rate | 25.44% | 31.65% | + 24.42% |
| Open Rate | 27.40% | 34.24% | + 24.99% |
| Click Rate | 1.39% | 1.14% | - 17.99% |
| Click Rate | 1.79% | 1.51% | - 15.40% |
| Click Rate | 1.10% | 0.74% | - 32.21% |
| New Donors | 45.60% | 36.24% | - 20.54% |
| New Donors | 40.04% | 43.60% | + 8.90% |
| New Donors | 40.44% | 41.69% | + 3.10% |
| Opt-Out Rate | 0.34% | 0.09% | - 72.18% |
| Opt-Out Rate | 0.26% | 0.27% | + 2.40% |
| Opt-Out Rate | 0.13% | 0.23% | + 73.51% |
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.