August 2026

Nonprofit Trends by MissionWired.

+23%

Average total revenue increase in August YOY

+17%

Average total gifts in August YOY

+11%

Average sustainer revenue growth YOY

+14%

Average total new donors in August YOY

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The Narrative: Context & Takeaways

August wraps up the summer with growth in revenue and gifts – especially from large nonprofits – and sustainer revenue continues to grow.

The end of summer saw rapid response efforts continue, with organizations responding to storms in the Midwest, floods in Nepal, and continued Ebola outbreaks. Donors responded to these crises and more, with nonprofit sectors like disaster relief, environment/wildlife, and human and social services driving some of the largest revenue gains across the industry in August.

As a whole, nonprofits saw significant growth: Average revenue was up 23% year-over-year in August, with total gifts up 17%. We saw more but smaller gifts overall, with a slight dip in average gift, down 1% in August and 6% overall in 2026. Since April, we’ve been seeing new donors trend higher than the last two years, up 14% in August, but looking across 2026, YTD new donors are still down 4%. 

Large organizations saw significant growth across the board in August – with 36% growth in revenue, 27% growth in gifts, and a 12% increase in average gift – likely lifting results overall for the month.

New to Nonprofit Trends in recent months are our sustainer results, which show benchmarks and trends for this important revenue stream for nonprofits. In August, we saw sustainer revenue hold strong through the end of the summer, with an 11% increase. Looking at the average number of new sustainers, growth spiked in July, up 36%, with August following close behind, showing 28% growth YoY. This – along with the trending YoY growth of new donors in recent months – is a good sign going into the busy end-of-year giving season.

+23%

Average total revenue increase in August YOY

+17%

Average total gifts in August YOY

+11%

Average sustainer revenue growth YOY

+14%

Average total new donors in August YOY

Overall Results

Organization size

All Organizations

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20252026Change
Average Revenue$230,744.82$244,917.01+ 6.14%
New Donors40.83%39.69%– 2.78%
Average Total Gifts4,2114,491+ 6.66%
Average Gift Amount$79.89$75.45– 5.55%
Average Sustainer Revenue$201,008.61$222,107.03+ 10.50%
Open Rate28.24%31.03%+ 9.91%
Click Rate1.84%1.39%– 24.08%
Opt-Out Rate0.41%0.46%+ 12.84%
20252026Change
Average Revenue$211,200.10$260,413.68+ 23.30%
New Donors40.21%40.33%+ 0.29%
Average Total Gifts4,2264,925+ 16.55%
Average Gift Amount$74.59$73.63– 1.28%
Average Sustainer Revenue$182,092.21$229,536.66+ 26.06%
Open Rate29.52%32.00%+ 8.41%
Click Rate1.84%1.32%– 27.99%
Opt-Out Rate0.45%0.48%+ 6.94%

Small Organizations

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20252026Change
Average Revenue$43,982.97$55,746.64+ 26.75%
New Donors40.58%43.21%+ 6.48%
Average Total Gifts562742+ 31.88%
Average Gift Amount$105.56$89.65– 15.07%
Average Sustainer Revenue$47,285.46$51,066.79+ 8.00%
Open Rate22.10%27.36%+ 23.82%
Click Rate2.38%1.85%– 22.50%
Opt-Out Rate0.54%0.59%+ 9.31%
20252026Change
Average Revenue$50,399.09$48,521.91– 3.72%
New Donors41.57%41.62%+ 0.12%
Average Total Gifts669659– 1.50%
Average Gift Amount$92.50$87.71– 5.18%
Average Sustainer Revenue$43,284.36$54,972.44+ 27.00%
Open Rate23.08%31.08%+ 34.68%
Click Rate2.47%1.76%– 28.82%
Opt-Out Rate0.35%0.68%+ 92.44%

Medium Organizations

Tabbed content
20252026Change
Average Revenue$265,335.42$284,763.72+ 7.32%
New Donors42.21%36.54%– 13.42%
Average Total Gifts4,2564,686+ 10.10%
Average Gift Amount$74.14$68.75– 7.27%
Average Sustainer Revenue$256,272.91$221,891.25– 13.42%
Open Rate26.99%28.72%+ 6.41%
Click Rate1.80%1.14%– 36.78%
Opt-Out Rate0.35%0.44%+ 24.77%
20252026Change
Average Revenue$239,135.43$260,978.57+ 9.13%
New Donors39.64%38.91%– 1.85%
Average Total Gifts4,3554,460+ 2.40%
Average Gift Amount$68.86$67.27– 2.31%
Average Sustainer Revenue$133,734.83$201,645.27+ 50.78%
Open Rate28.73%27.62%– 3.88%
Click Rate1.76%1.02%– 41.90%
Opt-Out Rate0.52%0.43%– 16.54%

Large Organizations

Tabbed content
20252026Change
Average Revenue$399,013.59$428,188.80+ 7.31%
New Donors39.61%39.15%– 1.17%
Average Total Gifts8,1868,822+ 7.77%
Average Gift Amount$59.10$67.08+ 13.50%
Average Sustainer Revenue$296,002.18$417,046.59 + 40.89%
Open Rate36.90%37.84%+ 2.56%
Click Rate1.25%1.18%– 5.61%
Opt-Out Rate0.34%0.37%+ 8.60%
20252026Change
Average Revenue$376,225.97$511,293.75+ 35.90%
New Donors39.14%40.65%+ 3.84%
Average Total Gifts8,36410,602+ 26.75%
Average Gift Amount$59.72$67.02+ 12.23%
Average Sustainer Revenue$399,442.03$466,891.24+ 16.89%
Open Rate39.11%38.61%– 1.26%
Click Rate1.15%1.23%+ 7.20%
Opt-Out Rate0.44%0.31%– 30.01%

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.

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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.

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Average Gift Amount

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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.

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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.

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Sustainers

Average Sustainer Revenue

This view shows the average revenue raised across all digital channels from all recurring (monthly) sustainer gifts for a nonprofit organization.

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Average New Sustainers

Across all digital channels, the chart below shows, on average, how many new sustainer (monthly) donors a nonprofit organization saw.

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Email Engagement

Open Rate

Defined as total opens/total sent, this view shows the average email open rates across nonprofit organizations.

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Click Rate

The view below shows the average click rate, defined as unique clicks/unique opens across nonprofit organizations.

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Opt-out Rate

The view below shows the average opt-out rate, defined as total opt-outs/total emails sent across nonprofit organizations.

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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.