Cost To Raise a Dollar (CTRD)

It's really an interesting discussion for a board and staff leadership to think about the different fundraising activities and how much time and effort they should spend on each activity!   An easy way to assess your effectiveness is to look at the Cost to Raise a Dollar (CTRD) for each of the fundraising programs or campaigns your nonprofit engages in.

I wish I had a dime for every time someone would ask me what the CTRD that is "acceptable".    Well, there are national averages, but your nonprofit must decide what they think is "acceptable" to the supporters.

I have had a slide in one of my training sessions for years with the following:

James Greenfield provided the following answer in his book, Fund-Raising: Evaluating and Managing the Fund Development Process (1999). The overall national average cost to raise a dollar (CTRD) is 20 cents (or 80 cents of every dollar raised goes to the charitable purpose/programs):

# Fundraising Activity/Method National Cost to Raise a Dollar

1. Capital Campaign/Major Gifts $ .05 to $ .10 per dollar raised.
2. Corporations and Foundations (Grant Writing) $ .20 per dollar raised.
3. Direct Mail Renewal $ .20 per dollar raised.
4. Planned Giving $ .25 per dollar raise¾and a lot of patience!
5. Benefit/Special Events $ .50 of gross proceeds.
6. Direct Mail Acquisition $ 1.00 to $ 1.25 per dollar raised.
7. National Average $ .20

I have cross-referenced it with many other sources.  However, look at THE DATE on this...I wonder if social media, email and general increased web presence of nonprofits has changed these averages.

Can anyone update this information for us??