Revenue Growth

Revenue growth is a powerful metric that helps you monitor and analyze increases or decreases in total fundraising revenue across the calendar year. By tracking revenue growth, you gain insight into overall fundraising health — a critical indicator of acquisition, retention, and strategy effectiveness.

This metric, displayed on the Revenue growth tile on the Home page, is updated weekly to keep you informed of trends and empower timely action. Monitoring revenue growth allows you to identify opportunities to expand your donor base and optimize your fundraising approach.

Note: Don’t see this yet? The Revenue growth Home page tile is currently in Limited Availability (LA).

Tip: The information shown during the first two months of the calendar year may not provide actionable insights due to limited data. More meaningful year-to-date insights will be available starting in March. You can still review data from previous calendar years at any time.

In short, revenue growth answers a key question: Is your organization’s fundraising revenue increasing or decreasing year-over-year relative to your benchmark? Use this data to make informed decisions that drive sustainable growth and maximize impact.

Act on Trends and Unlock Growth

If your revenue is trending downward or falling behind peer benchmarks, it may signal missed opportunities. Use the benchmark gauge and tailored recommendations to improve results:

  • Focus on donor acquisition and retention to grow your base

  • Ask donors for amounts that match their giving capacity

Even if your trend is positive, benchmarking can reveal areas for further growth. Smart, targeted strategies—like improving retention or upgrading donor asks—are the fastest path to stronger outcomes.

Gauge Visualization at a Glance

  • Half-filled gauge = median performance

  • Trend arrows = direction of change over time against your benchmark

  • Weekly updates = real-time progress tracking

Tip: Data on this tile updates weekly.

Turn Benchmarks into Action with AI Guidance

The Revenue Growth benchmarking tile now integrates with Chat for Blackbaud AI, giving you real-time, personalized guidance to improve fundraising performance. With this feature, you can:

  • Understand how your revenue trend compares to peers

  • Interpret benchmark scores with contextual insights

  • Receive tailored recommendations based on your organization’s data

  • Trigger actions directly from the tile (e.g., launch acquisition campaigns, adjust gift asks)

Example: If your revenue growth falls below the 30th percentile, Chat for Blackbaud AI might suggest:

  • Running targeted acquisition campaigns

  • Enhancing stewardship for existing donors

  • Testing new appeal strategies for higher engagement

These recommendations are curated for your benchmark cohort, making them highly relevant and actionable.

Select Suggest actions to see your next best move.

Revenue Growth Benchmarking

Revenue growth is more than just a trend — it’s a signal of donor engagement, acquisition success, and fundraising strategy effectiveness.

  • Strong growth often reflects effective acquisition and retention strategies.

  • Declining growth may indicate missed opportunities or underperforming campaigns.

How to Use the Benchmarking Tile

  • Track Your Position: The gauge shows where you stand compared to peers. A half-filled gauge means you’re at the median.

  • Monitor Trends: See if your revenue is rising, falling, or holding steady.

  • Act on Insights: Use recommendations to improve acquisition, retention, and campaign performance.

Tips for Improvement

  • If retention is lower than acquisition, prioritize retention strategies for better ROI.

  • Don’t expect your overall benchmark score to change immediately — watch weekly trends to confirm progress.

Benchmarking helps you move beyond arbitrary goals by providing real-world context and actionable strategies. Use these insights to strengthen donor relationships and maximize fundraising outcomes.

What is benchmarking?

Benchmarking helps you understand how your organization’s fundraising performance compares to similar organizations. Unlike arbitrary goals, peer-based benchmarks are grounded in real-world data, making them more relevant and motivating.

Why Benchmarking Matters

  • Accounts for sector-specific dynamics and donor behavior

  • Normalizes for organizational scale

  • Reveals actionable gaps and strengths

Raiser’s Edge NXT uses the Blackbaud Philanthropic dataset — the largest of its kind — to derive benchmarks from billions of dollars in giving across thousands of organizations.

How It Works

Your organization is grouped with peers based on:

  • Country (U.S. or Canada)

  • Industry/Sector (e.g., Higher Education, Healthcare)

  • Annual Revenue Size (Small: <$1M, Medium: $1M–<$10M, Large: ≥$10M)

Benchmark scores are calculated at various percentile ranges (i.e., 10th, 50th, 90th, etc). using all organizations in a peer group and weighted to reflect the nonprofit landscape. Your performance is compared separately to industry and revenue size benchmarks, then averaged into a combined integer score from 0 to 10.

By comparing your results to similar organizations, benchmarking highlights where you excel and where improvement is needed—helping you set realistic goals and adopt strategies that drive growth.

For consistent comparison across organizations, benchmarks include:

  • All donors, including those marked as inactive

  • Calendar years only (not fiscal year)

  • Cash-in-hand giving (not soft credits), including:

    • One-time gifts

    • Payments toward matching gifts, pledges, and recurring gifts

    • Gifts of stock and sold stock