Jul 2026
Nonprofit Trends by MissionWired
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The Narrative: Context & Takeaways
Summer growth continues, with new donor increases in July driving revenue despite a lower average gift.
As summer reached its peak, attention turned to environment and wildlife organizations with temperatures reaching record levels in July and El Niño intensifying. Conflict continued abroad in Iran and Gaza, and rapid-response efforts scaled up after flooding hit Central Texas.
These factors inspired donors to take action, driving another month of summer revenue growth broadly for nonprofits, up 15% YOY, with average total gifts up 24%. While average gift is down 12% YOY in July, significant increase in new donors helped bridge the gap and support overall growth.
Environment and wildlife organizations responding to the current administration’s removal of protections saw donors respond in support – with the sector seeing strong YOY revenue growth, up 31% in June and 40% in July. (Have you seen? You can now filter the graphs below to view results by nonprofit vertical by choosing “sector” from the first drop-down tab and selecting a category from the second tab!)
Broadly, we’re seeing nonprofits scale up email acquisition in July, with a 40% YOY increase in the share of new acquisitions in nonprofit email files. Email acquisition is helping to drive new donor counts across nonprofits, with July showing average new donors up 25% YOY. As summer turns to fall and year-end approaches, nonprofits that are investing in acquiring new-to-file prospects are growing their audiences of new, active donors ahead of their upcoming year-end campaigns.
+15%
Average total revenue increase YOY
+40%
Growth in new acquisitions YOY
-12%
Decrease in average gift YOY
+25%
Increase in new donors YOY
Navigate Results:
Results
| 2025 | 2026 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average Revenue | $198,321.38 | $210,483.18 | + 6.13% |
| Average Total Gifts | 3,661 | 3,905 | + 6.68% |
| New Donors | 40.55% | 38.42% | - 5.26% |
| Open Rate | 28.10% | 30.90% | + 9.97% |
| Click Rate | 1.83% | 1.41% | - 23.11% |
| Opt-Out Rate | 0.40% | 0.46% | + 14.07% |
| Average Revenue | $178,137.65 | $204,841.90 | + 14.99% |
| Average Total Gifts | 3,323 | 4,107 | + 23.60% |
| New Donors | 39.42% | 38.50% | - 2.33% |
| Open Rate | 27.47% | 31.00% | + 12.87% |
| Click Rate | 1.84% | 1.14% | - 38.23% |
| Opt-Out Rate | 0.35% | 0.51% | + 46.31% |
| Average Revenue | $36,397.15 | $47,582.93 | + 30.73% |
| Average Total Gifts | 454 | 618 | + 36.12% |
| New Donors | 40.54% | 42.89% | + 5.80% |
| Open Rate | 22.50% | 28.24% | + 25.51% |
| Click Rate | 2.33% | 2.04% | - 12.45% |
| Opt-Out Rate | 0.61% | 0.54% | - 11.48% |
| Average Revenue | $195,657.32 | $203,932.92 | + 4.23% |
| Average Total Gifts | 2,974 | 3,267 | + 9.85% |
| New Donors | 42.50% | 35.04% | - 17.55% |
| Open Rate | 26.67% | 28.79% | + 7.95% |
| Click Rate | 1.82% | 1.19% | - 34.62% |
| Opt-Out Rate | 0.31% | 0.44% | + 41.94% |
| Average Revenue | $381,923.34 | $409,433.61 | + 7.20% |
| Average Total Gifts | 8,045 | 8,363 | + 3.80% |
| New Donors | 39.35% | 38.79% | - 1.42% |
| Open Rate | 36.54% | 37.57% | + 2.82% |
| Click Rate | 1.29% | 1.17% | - 9.30% |
| Opt-Out Rate | 0.31% | 0.38% | + 22.58% |
| Average Revenue | $41,683.59 | $54,004.29 | + 29.56% |
| Average Total Gifts | 588 | 1,087 | + 84.95% |
| New Donors | 40.21% | 37.40% | - 6.98% |
| Open Rate | 19.55% | 26.73% | + 36.71% |
| Click Rate | 2.56% | 1.36% | - 46.83% |
| Opt-Out Rate | 0.33% | 0.83% | + 147.72% |
| Average Revenue | $191,383.57 | $173,835.18 | - 9.17% |
| Average Total Gifts | 3,123 | 2,754 | - 11.79% |
| New Donors | 37.68% | 38.97% | + 3.42% |
| Open Rate | 28.93% | 29.21% | + 0.97% |
| Click Rate | 1.65% | 0.93% | - 43.29% |
| Opt-Out Rate | 0.36% | 0.43% | + 19.92% |
| Average Revenue | $321,157.34 | $433,390.69 | + 34.95% |
| Average Total Gifts | 6,612 | 9,805 | + 48.29% |
| New Donors | 40.11% | 39.10% | - 2.52% |
| Open Rate | 36.18% | 38.42% | + 6.18% |
| Click Rate | 1.11% | 1.17% | + 5.59% |
| Opt-Out Rate | 0.36% | 0.34% | - 4.04% |
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.
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.
Average New Sustainers
Across all digital channels, the chart below shows, on average, how many new sustainer (monthly) donors a nonprofit organization saw.
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.