While nonprofit organizations were able to acquire and keep donors in 2010, net giving levels continued to decline, a new report from the Fundraising Effectiveness Project (FEP) finds.

An initiative of the Association of Fundraising Professionals and the Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy at the Urban Institute, the 2011 FEP Survey Report (27 pages, PDF) compared fundraising gain and loss ratios in 2010 to those in 2009 and found that while the numbers last year were higher than the average net loss in 2009 (by 15.8 percent), net giving levels have not recovered to their pre-recession levels. Indeed, for every $5.35 that organizations gained in contributions from new, current, and previously lapsed donors in 2010, $5.54 was lost through gift attrition.

The report also found that nonprofits saw an average net increase of 1.7 percent in the number of donors in 2010, compared to a -3.2 percent average net loss of donors in 2009; that gifts by new donors were up 21.7 percent, while gifts by "recaptured" donors increased 12.4 percent and gifts from existing donors were up 19.4 percent. Together, the increases resulted in a total gain ratio of 53.5 percent. At the same time, losses in gifts from downgraded (-20.3 percent), lapsed new (-14.4 percent), and lapsed repeat donors (-21.0 percent) resulted in a total loss ratio of 55.7 percent.

"Giving improved — but only very slightly — in 2010 after two very disappointing years," said AFP president and CEO Andrew Watt. "Giving rates still have a long way to go before we reach pre-recession levels, and it all begins with reducing the number of lapsed donors. This is one of the biggest challenges charities face, losing nearly 60 percent of donors every year and relying too heavily on new donors. It's much less expensive to retain and inspire existing donors than it is to find new donors, so charities should focus on stewarding their current donors and reducing losses there."