The Problem of Declining Fundraising ROI

November 8, 2010; Source: PR Newswire | Not for nothing but it just gets harder for most of us to raise the money we need to keep organizational life and limb together. According to this study from the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy, the return on investment or ROI on every fundraising dollar spent declined pretty significantly from 2008 to 2009. In the study of 66 healthcare organizations, the median ROI fell 23 percent in 2009, and for cash donations alone, 17 percent. This means that for every dollar spent, the return is significantly less and this, of course, affects those ratios used by the watchdog agencies never mind our programs themselves. One fact, in particular stood out seeing as how it is November, according to the study, 2009 the “costs associated with annual giving efforts soaked up 27 percent of all fundraising expenses in 2009, compared with 19 percent in 2008.”—Ruth McCambridge