Professional fundraising firms retained 17% of donations raised in New York State during 2023, the lowest amount during the past five years. According to data in the new “Pennies For Charity” report from New York Attorney General Letitia James, 581 fundraising campaigns brought in $1.23 billion with fees hitting $261.5 million.

New Yorkers’ charitable giving increased $5.8 million compared to 2022 when 572 campaigns were tracked. There were 658 campaigns, which raised $1.71 billion, tracked during 2021.

Professional fundraising firms must register and report activity to the State of New York. The data shows that 46% of the time charities received less than 50% of funds raised and 16% of campaigns had expenses that exceeded revenue to the tune of $26 million during 2023.

The regulators did not differentiate between acquisition and renewal campaigns, even though acquisition campaigns are more expensive than renewal. The report is targeted to consumers in New York State, not the charitable industry.

If revenue from donor-advised funds is removed from the mix, $331.1 million was donated while $242.7 million was retained by the fundraising firm.

The number of charitable telemarketing campaigns during 2023 in New York has steadily declined. In 2021, there were 401 campaigns that used telemarketing in New York. That number dropped to 332 in 2022 and to 306 in 2023. More of the funds raised by telemarketers are going to charities. The number of campaigns in which the telemarketer retained more than 50 percent of the collected dollars dropped from 129 in 2022 to 120 in 2023.

Gross receipts from telemarketing campaigns is $691.8 million, with dollars retained by fundraisers hitting $87.3 million. No money was raised in two of the telemarketing campaigns in New York, while between 50% and 100% of revenue was retained by the fundraising firm in 120 cases.

The nonprofit sector employed roughly 1.39 million New Yorkers during the fourth quarter of 2023 and comprised 17% of private-sector jobs. There were 95,513 charities registered with the Office of the Attorney General’s Charities Bureau during October 2023.

During 2022 (the most recent year with data available), approximately1.4 million New Yorkers who itemize deductions claimed $40.7 billion in charitable contributions on their tax returns. These statistics are in line with pre-pandemic giving numbers, according to the report’s authors.

The report and the searchable Pennies for Charity database containing the results of specific campaigns are posted on the Charities Bureau website. Six of the 22 pages are tips to consumers for giving.

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Source From Non Profit Times