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Understanding the Power of Average Gift Amount in Fundraising

In fundraising, the size of your average gift amount is more than just a number. This metric can tell you a lot about your donors’ capacity to give. Letโ€™s explore average gift amount and its significance in building a robust fundraising strategy.

What is the Average Gift Amount?

Average Gift Amount represents how much your donors typically give to your cause. It can serve as a proxy for two crucial data points:

  1. Capacity to Give: How much are your donors financially able to contribute?
  2. Conviction in Your Cause: As fundraising expert Tim Kachuriak puts it, are donors saying “yes” or “heck yes” to your gift asks?

Focusing on this metric can unlock big opportunities. By optimizing the initial gifts your donors make and steadily upgrading their contribution levels over time, youโ€™ll see increases in donor lifetime value, which can significantly increase your organizationโ€™s revenue. Increasing your organization’s revenue means you can further the mission and continue to serve your community. 

How to Calculate Average Gift Amount

The formula for the average gift amount is simple:

Amount Given ($) / Number of Gifts

However, it is essential to exclude exceptionally large gifts (like $10K+) from the calculation. These outliers can skew the data and give you a misleading picture of your typical donorโ€™s behavior.

Why the Average Gift Amount Matters

Increasing the average gift amount from existing donors is far easier than acquiring new donors. These supporters are already committed to your cause and, with the right encouragement, are often willing to increase their contributions. This shift can have a tremendous impact on your overall revenue.

Letโ€™s consider a five-year growth plan: If you donโ€™t make any changes to your average gift amount, revenue stays static at $4.2 million annually. However, by focusing on increasing your average gift amount by just 10% in the first two years and 5% in the following years, you could see a 33% revenue growth by year fiveโ€”up to $5.6 million.

Tactics to Increase Your Average Gift Amount

gift ask array example from Virtuous for average gift amount
  • Use dynamic gift ask arrays: Customize gift asks based on a donorโ€™s past giving and capacity. This tailored approach encourages them to give more.
  • Connect gift asks to specific program outcomes and stories: Show donors what their increased contributions can achieve. For instance, if youโ€™re encouraging a donor to move from $1,000 to $2,000, explain exactly what that extra $1,000 will do for your cause.
  • Special gift asks during off-cycle giving periods: Present unique opportunities that feel exclusive to the donor and encourage them to give at a higher level.

How to Increase the Average Gift Amount with Virtuous

Itโ€™s understood that motivating existing donors to contribute a little more is both cheaper and easier than trying to acquire new donors. The challenge lies in determining the right motivation for each audience segment, ensuring that your approach resonates with their specific interests and encourages them to increase their support. 

When considering segmentation, especially when using a platform like Virtuous, the key is identifying the donors most suited to receive a specific message or strategy. Itโ€™s about understanding which individuals will be most responsive to the tailored communication, ensuring that the right message reaches the right person for maximum impact.

See What Virtuous Can Do for You

Additionally, understanding the online average gift amount is crucial, and the tools in Virtuous can help improve it. This can be done with dynamic gift arrays, which show the impact of donations and include pop-up suggestions for special projects. If your current CRM doesnโ€™t stack up, reach out to Virtuous for a demo.

Final Thoughts

By understanding and optimizing the average gift amount, you can improve your fundraising efforts and create a more sustainable future for your organization and those you serve. Whether focusing on major donors or core supporters, tailoring your approach to average gift amount will lead to growth and a stronger connection with your donor base.

Virtuous Nonprofit Benchmark Report average gift amount

What you should do now

Below are three ways we can help you begin your journey to building more personalized fundraising with responsive technology.

See the Virtuous platform in action.ย  Schedule a call with our team for personalized answers and expert advice on transforming your nonprofit with donor management software.

Download our free Responsive Maturity Model and learn the 5 steps to more personalized donor experiences.

If you know another nonprofit pro whoโ€™d enjoy reading this page, share it with them via Email, Linkedin, Twitter, or Facebook.

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Grow generosity with Virtuous

Virtuous is the responsive fundraising software platform proven to help nonprofit organizations increase generosity by serving all donors personally, no matter their gift size.

โ€œVirtuous truly understands nonprofits and the importance of our mission. And their open access to data and built-in custom reports gave us access to the data we need.โ€
Todd Shinabargerโ€‹
Chief Information Officer