Impact of COVID-19 on Mid-level and Major Donor Giving, with Dickerson Bakker & Associates

How has COVID-19 impacted Mid-level and Major Gift fundraising? Are Mid-level and Major donors shifting their giving priorities because of this crisis? Are they holding back on giving? If Mid-level and Major donors did give during the COVID crisis, how is that going to impact year-end giving? 

These are the exact kind of questions that my close friends, Derric Bakker and Paul Martin of Dickerson Bakker & Associates were wrestling with in their fundraising consulting practice. To get to the bottom of these questions, they decided to go directly to the source -- to Mid-level and Major donors. In June of 2020 they commissioned and conducted the study, Charitable Giving in the Wake of COVID-19. This survey focused on donors to faith-based organizations, but I believe many of the findings will also hold true for organizations that are not faith-based.

Derric and Paul are two of the smartest and most accomplished major gift fundraisers in our sector, so when they ask questions like this then do the research and offer their insights, I ALWAYS listen. 

What their research discovered is something amazing:

1. 85% of donors surveyed report that they plan to continue giving through year-end at the same or greater levels than they did last year.
2. 64% of donors expect the economy to rebound within one year -- a key consumer confidence indicator. 
3. Majority of donors reported that their giving during COVID was in addition to what they were already planning to do -- as in, increased generosity.
4. Giving priorities remain unchanged, with outreach & evangelism ranking #1, and meeting the needs of vulnerable populations in the U.S. ranking #2.

We sat down to dig deeper into the research findings, and to hear from Derric and Paul about how fundraisers and nonprofits can and should apply these learnings to their fundraising efforts between now and year-end. 

You don't want to miss this conversation!

The Dickerson Bakker team is also partnering with our good friend Mike Buwalda at Money for Ministry to share even more about this study in a special webinar on August 25. You can sign up for that webinar here, and when you do, you'll get a FREE copy of the E-book, The Top 3 Ways to Approach Major Donors This Fall. 

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