Nonprofits Generally Optimistic About Final Quarter Fundraising, According to Sage Nonprofit Insights Survey

AUSTIN, TX--(Marketwire - Nov 21, 2011) - Sage North America today announced the results of its recently conducted Sage Nonprofit Insights, Q3 2011, survey of U.S. and Canadian nonprofit organizations, which focused on questions related to their year-end fundraising efforts.

According to the survey, organizations are generally optimistic about the final quarter of 2011, with a third (33%) saying they expect to raise more funds than they did in last year's final quarter. A little more than half of survey respondents (53%) said they have raised about what they expected to at this point in the year. About one-third of respondents (32%) said they have raised fewer funds than expected, so far, in 2011.

"Nonprofits are no longer waiting for our tighter economic conditions to improve and are adjusting their fundraising expectations accordingly," said Krista Endsley, senior vice president and general manager for Nonprofit Solutions at Sage.

For the entire year, the majority of responding organizations (63%) expect to meet their fundraising goals for individual donors, while nearly a quarter (24%) project falling short.

Also, according to the survey, organizations using mobile strategies as part of their year-end fundraising campaigns are more likely to expect to exceed their fundraising goals (21% versus 11%) than organizations not using mobile strategies.

Endsley sees this as a trend. "Organizations focused on creating multi-channel year-end campaigns, incorporating direct mail, email, special events, as well as social media and mobile, are more likely to expect to raise more funds," she said.

Other interesting findings from the Sage Nonprofit Insights, Q3 2011, survey:

• The most common tactics organizations will use for conducting year-end fundraising are direct mail (84%) and email (69%); however, a sizable portion also will utilize special events (60%) and Facebook pages (54%)
• Organizations plan to use a wide range of technologies as they carry out their year-end fundraising, with office productivity applications (59%), online donation solutions (56%), donor management systems (55%), and email marketing (53%) leading the list

An executive summary of the survey and results are available at the following link: http://bit.ly/ugcwlT. The online survey was conducted among Sage customers in the U.S. and Canada between late September and early October 2011. Responding to the survey was a total of 175 organizations that solicit individual donations for financial support. The margin of error on the overall sample is +/- 6 percent (greater for sub-samples) at a 95 percent confidence level.

Sage has been serving nonprofit and governmental organizations throughout North America for more than 30 years. The company helps more than 32,000 unique not-for-profit organizations increase efficiency and more easily manage their operations through the use of technology. From fund accounting, donor and fundraising management, and grant management, to online donation processing, human resources (HR), payroll, and fixed asset management, Sage offers a software product or service to meet the organization's need. For more information, call 800-811-0961 or visit www.sagenonprofit.com. Follow Sage Nonprofit Solutions on Twitter (www.twitter.com/SageNonprofit) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/sagenonprofit); read their blog (www.sagewords.net); and join their community for not-for-profits http://community.sagenonprofit.com).

About Sage North America
Sage North America is part of The Sage Group plc, a leading global supplier of business management software and services. Sage North America employs 3,900 people and supports more than 3 million small and midsized business customers. The Sage Group plc, formed in 1981, was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1989 and now employs 13,600 people and supports more than 6 million customers worldwide. For more information, please visit the Web site at www.sagenorthamerica.com. Follow Sage North America on Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/SageNorthAmerica, and Twitter, http://twitter.com/#!/sagenamerica.

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