Study Reveals Nonprofit Sector’s Evolution Toward Data-Driven Fundraising Investment
Marts&Lundy, a strategic fundraising consulting firm serving mission-driven organizations around the world, announced the availability of its Fundraising Investment Study 2025, a global analysis highlighting how nonprofit organizations are transforming their approach to philanthropic investment and embracing performance analytics to support fundraising strategy and budget decisions. The report equips nonprofit leaders with practical insights and benchmarks to strengthen their investment cases and optimize resource allocation for sustained philanthropic growth.
This study examines 243 organizations across seven countries, representing organizations with annual fundraising under $10 million to more than $250 million, and spanning a broad cross-section of the nonprofit sector, including health, higher education, independent schools, arts and culture, environment and conservation, public and human services, and faith-based organizations. Drawing on survey responses and performance data from Marts&Lundy’s performance benchmarks database, the study offers a comprehensive view of budgeting practices, investment justification strategies, and fundraising efficiency.
The findings show widespread recognition of data’s value and steady growth in the use of analytics to inform investment decisions, with one-quarter of organizations now taking a data-driven approach that leverages return on investment (ROI), cost per dollar raised (CPDR), or forecasting data. Collaboration between advancement leaders and senior institutional leadership is strong, with 70% reporting active engagement in budget planning.
“We are in the midst of an evolution in how nonprofit leaders approach fundraising investment,” said Sarah Clough, Chief Strategy Officer at Marts&Lundy. “The data shows increasing momentum toward more intentional, analytics-supported decision making. Organizations that combine performance data with deep relationship strategy are positioning themselves to thrive in a changing philanthropic environment.”
Key Findings
Performance Benchmarks
- Median ROI: 4.5
- Median CPDR: $0.18
- Arts & culture leads with median ROI of 6.2 and $0.13 CPDR
- Higher education follows with median ROI of 4.9 and $0.16 CPDR
Momentum in analytics adoption
- One-quarter of organizations are already using ROI, CPDR, or forecasting in investment decisions.
- In practice, nearly four in five rely on internal performance data to justify additional development investment.
- 83% cite peer benchmarking as the most helpful data in making the case for increased resources.
- 61% of organizations track ROI or CPDR, creating a foundation for metrics-driven budget discussions.
Scale and structure support success
- Organizations raising $250M+ annually see 3-4x higher ROI and two-thirds lower CPDR than smaller institutions raising less than $10M, reflecting the compounded benefits of infrastructure, diversified fundraising programs, and efficiencies.
- Campaign periods produce higher ROI (4.7 vs. 3.4), demonstrating the impact of focused philanthropic strategy.
Barriers to securing and allocating resources
- Competing priorities dominate: 75% of organizations cite this as their top barrier in fundraising budget discussions, followed by leadership’s understanding of ROI and CPDR (42%).
- While organizations know the value of analytics in shaping investment, they often lack the tools, leadership buy-in, or organizational bandwidth to fully realize their ambition.
Sector insights
- Health leads in the adoption of data-driven case for investment (39%) but experiences greater infrastructure gaps (53%).
- Independent schools represent an emerging opportunity, with two-thirds positioned to expand their use of performance metrics.
- Higher education is best-positioned to integrate analytics into budgeting and investment discussions as two-thirds already are already calculating ROI or CPDR, while also facing the lowest infrastructure barriers among sectors.
A Sector Advancing with Purpose
“This is a story of momentum,” Clough added. “Nonprofits are steadily building their analytic capabilities, strengthening collaboration with executive leadership, and modernizing their investment strategies. The leaders who lean into this evolution early will shape the next decade of philanthropic growth.”
The Fundraising Investment Study 2025 offers practical insights and guidance for advancement leaders seeking to enhance their data-driven case for investment and communicate the value of fundraising investment with clarity and precision.
Access the "Fundraising Investment Study 2025" (opens as a pdf) here.
The preceding press release was provided by a company unaffiliated with NonProfit PRO. The views expressed within may not directly reflect the thoughts or opinions of the staff of NonProfit PRO.
