“My advice is to send more fundraising emails!” UK findings from the 2023 M+R Benchmarks Study

This week I attended an excellent seminar at which the team from M+R and Paul de Gregorio from rally presented the top level findings for a UK audience from the M+R Benchmarks Study, a comprehensive look at the metrics underlying charity digital programmes, including fundraising, advocacy, and marketing. There's so much data to look through on the site, and I urge you to go and have a dig, as well as take part next time if you're working within a charity. The more participants the richer the data, of course, though it's already absolutely fascinating. Highlights include: Online revenue for the UK charities increased by 5% in 2022, while Non-UK charities reported a 6% decline. There was a 59% increase in revenue for the International Aid sector, almost certainly driven by the crisis in Ukraine. Most of the increase in revenue came from regular giving. The average email list size in UK charities increased by 17% in 2022. For every 1,000 fundraising emails sent, UK charities received £66, a 19% drop from 2021. UK charities increased digital advertising spending by 35% in 2022. Large UK charities were the least dependent on Meta advertising. Website traffic generated by unpaid search results comprised 36% of website visits for UK charities in 2022. The average conversion rate for a website’s main donation page was 21%. Check it out!