Plummeting returns, alarming stats and a wealth divide
ROI reflections part 1
Welcome to a bonus edition of the Nest Egg!
Firstly, apologies for the horribly clickbaity title of this article folks. Not gonna lie though, we wanted you to open the email.
On 22 April 2025, we published our most recent report on return on investment for different types of fundraising.
In just over 24 hours, the report was viewed nearly 700 times and we welcomed 200 new subscribers to our community!
How incredible is that?
A huge thank you to each and every one of you that has helped to spread the word.
So after a breather, here’s the first in a couple of bonus pieces which try to make sense of the data.
We hope you enjoy it.
Thanks again for your all support in getting our report out into the world. Couldn’t have done it without you.
Tony and Caroline
Plummeting returns, alarming stats and a wealth divide
by Caroline Danks
Picture description: Trees on a lakeside reflected in the water
Today I’m excited to share with you a few of my own thoughts following the publication of Fundraising ROI’s 2025.
I’d love to hear yours too - reply to this email to let me know your reflections.
1. ROI is down
It’s no surprise that compared with 2021 and its Covid related funding bonanzas, 2023/34 figures are indicating that fundraising is harder now than it was back then.
Back in 2021, ROI for all types of fundraising across charities of all sizes was £8.61.
In 2025 it’s £7.90*.
What is also interesting is that the charities participating in 2025 have more fundraising experience than those who participated in 2021.
83% of participant charities have had professional fundraising resource for 3 years or more (compared with 76% in 2021).
Had the experience level been equivalent to 2021, we would likely have seen an overall ROI of less than £7.90.
*Our studies do tend to attract quite high achievers. NCVO’s Civil Society Almanac reports on ROI each year – their average reported across the past 6 years was £4.68.
2. Big vs small
Critics of studies like these will say that trying to compare such diverse and wide-ranging business models is worthless. Obviously, I disagree, but I do recognise that variance in organisation size across our sector is significant and that it’s worth looking at data from large and small charities separately.
BTW, next Tuesday’s article will focus on ROI data in small charities. If you’re not already a paying subscriber, upgrade your subscription today if you’d like to read it…
It was the big charity / small charity data divide that I found to be the most fascinating thing about the entire exercise.
For large charities (those with an income of £1m +) the average ROI across all types of fundraising was £5.52, a significant reduction from 2021 when it was £8.07.
However, small charities (those with an income of under £1m) have seen their average ROI increase to £11.44, from £9.27 in 2021.
19% of large charities had a ROI of £10 or more compared with 65% of small charities.
62% of large charities had a ROI of £5 or less, compared with 17% of small charities.
This is fascinating when we consider the following from NCVO’s Civil Society Almanac 2024:
Total expenditure has:
· declined from £2.8bn to £2.1bn for micro and small organisations
· remained stable at £8.2bn for medium organisations
· increased from £53.5bn to £55.1bn for large, major and super-major organisations.
Small charities have seen an overall increase in ROI, despite a reduction in total income.
Whereas ROI for large charities is down, and yet their total income has increased.
This reckoning probably deserves an article all of its own tbh.
Remembering that our data set is very small (so results are a long way from being scientifically conclusive) the figures relating to large and small charities paint a picture of divergence and of almost incomparable scenarios.
They also speak to a widening wealth gap in the sector, with small charities having to raise money more efficiently (but to expect less than previously) with larger charities having the flexibility to trial and experiment with more long term / emerging fundraising tactics, knowing that even with a lower ROI, their income is still ultimately growing overall.
For me personally, this is truly the most eye-opening conclusion I’ve drawn whilst looking at the data.
3. High value is down
Both trust and major donor ROI is marginally down with corporate having plateaued.
This reflects wider trends we’re seeing across these areas of fundraising. Consider for a moment these mind-blowing statistics:
“The UK’s wealthiest collectively dropped their donations by £200 million last year.[1]”
“Corporate giving from the FTSE100 has dropped leaving an estimated £164 million in lost charitable contributions[2]”; and
“Last year, the number of non-Government grants fell to just over 31,000, down from nearly 100,000 in 2023”[3]
Never mind sobering, in the words of Nessa from Gavin and Stacey, “I’ll have a pint of wine”.
Try not to wallow in the overwhelm of it all if you possibly can (and if you find yourself having moments of sheer panic, at least know you’re not alone).
Part 2 drops next week - we promise its a little less alarmist and a bit more optimistic!
[1] Sunday Times Giving List 2023
[2] CAF, Corporate Giving Report 2024: The FTSE 100 and Beyond, September 2024
[3] Centre for Social Justice, Supercharging Philanthropy, February 2025