NextAfter Institute: Coronavirus Nonprofit Fundraising Response

COVID-19 has flipped the fundraising world upside down. With so many different resources, guides, and opinions, it’s hard to know how your nonprofit should approach your fundraising communication.

Don’t leave your fundraising strategy up to guess work. A clear vision for your desired impact means taking into account real life data.

By using NextAfter’s Coronavirus Fundraising Response Resource Center, you can dive into fundraising and marketing insights that will help your nonprofit navigate these unprecedented times.

The research includes data on Nonprofit Email Volume Trends, including:

• How has the weekly email volume changed in recent weeks?
• What is the content of the messaging each week?
• What percentage of emails mention COVID-19?
• How has the purpose of the emails varied?

NextAfter’s Data By Industry

NextAfter’s research data is compiled of 2,639 emails from 155 nonprofit organizations that were categorized in 12 different verticals, including:

• Arts & Culture
• Education
• Environment
• Faith Based
• Foundations
• Health
• Human Services
• International
• Public Media
• Public Policy & Advocacy
• Public Society Benefit
• Wildlife & Animal Welfare

By organizing the data into these verticals, your organization can drill down and see what other nonprofits in your industry are doing in response to COVID-19.

Key Observations From NextAfter

Based on the data that NextAfter has gathered to date, we have summarized the following key observations.

• The number of emails sent each week has been steadily increasing since the week of March 2nd.
• The increase in email volume has primarily been driven by messaging that includes COVID-19.
• Most verticals had similar ratios of COVID-19 mentions throughout recent weeks. The two outliers are Public Policy, which has increased mentions and Education, which has limited mentions.
• Roughly half of all emails included some form of a solicitation.
• The percentage of solicitation emails has seen a slight increase in recent weeks.
• Public Policy and International have been sending more than twice as many emails as other verticals included in NextAfter’s research.
• International, Human Services, and Public Media verticals have been steadily increasing their email volume in the past three months.
• The verticals that are directly dealing with COVID-19 such as Health, Human Services, and Public Policy are sending more solicitations than any other messaging type while many others seem to be emphasizing cultivation efforts.

Email Examples By Industry

One of our favorite aspects of NextAfter’s research are the email examples from real-life nonprofits, broken down by each industry.

According to NextAfter, “sometimes seeing the communication from other organizations can inspire a new messaging idea to test with your own audience. You can sort through various email examples from real nonprofits that are addressing coronavirus in their communication.”

These examples will get your creative juices flowing and spark some inspiration for email content, calls-to-action, and COVID-19 messaging.

OneCause COVID-19 Resources

As you evaluate how to proceed with your fundraising during this challenging environment — we’re here to help you navigate your options.

We’ve pulled together the following resources:

Guides: Help ease the switch to virtual fundraising
Webinars & Videos: Insightful multi-media and live conversations
Success Stories: Learn from others who have successfully pivoted their fundraising
Message from OneCause CEO: Hear from Steve Johns

Together we are one team, committed to helping you and your community navigate the road ahead.