About the project

Insight in Fundraising is an independent research initiative exploring how charities use evidence, insight and data to shape fundraising strategy and supporter relationships.

The findings published here are drawn from a sector-wide survey of charity professionals, combined with analysis of organisational context, roles and approaches to insight.

All results are reported in aggregate and anonymity thresholds are applied throughout, so no individual or organisation can be identified.

Where the data comes from

The findings are drawn from a single, shared survey completed by charity professionals across the sector and from around the world. Each respondent answered the same set of questions about how their organisation uses insight, data and evidence in fundraising and supporter experience.

We also collect a small amount of organisational context — such as charity size, sector, work area and geographic responsibility — so visitors can explore how answers differ across different types of organisation. No personally identifiable information is published, and responses are only shown where enough charities have answered to protect anonymity.

The order of questions shown in Findings may differ from the order in the original survey. This lets us group related ideas together — such as Insight Maturity — so concepts can be explored across all the relevant questions.

How the filters work

Filters let you narrow the results to a particular group of charities. You can filter by charity size, work area, location and Insight Maturity Tier. Each filter works independently, and when you select more than one filter they combine using “and” logic — so selecting “Small” and “UK” shows only small charities based in the UK.

Insight Maturity Tier is calculated for each organisation from the 17 insight statements. A respondent must answer at least 10 statements to receive a score; where an organisation has multiple respondents, their scores are averaged before the organisation is classified.

Performance Tier is calculated from six Individual Giving performance measures: overall income, new supporter acquisition, new supporter cost per acquisition, gaining a second single gift, regular giving and legacy consideration. Each measure is scored from -2 (significant decrease) to +2 (significant increase), with new supporter cost per acquisition reversed so lower costs score higher. A respondent must answer all six measures to receive a score.  The respondent is then classified into one of three tiers depending upon the sum of their six answers; Declining (0 or below), Stable (1-3) or Growing (4 or above).

Location is worked out from the regions each respondent covers. “UK” means they selected only United Kingdom; “Non-UK” means they selected only regions outside the UK; “Global” means they selected both the UK and at least one other region. Anyone who did not specify a region is excluded only when a location filter is active.

A minimum threshold of five respondents is applied to every chart and table. If a filtered group falls below that threshold, the result is hidden rather than displayed, so you can be confident that nothing shown here could identify an individual organisation.

Behind the project

The project was initiated by Adroit Insight and Beautiful Insights, two insight and research agencies with a shared belief that better evidence leads to better fundraising.

Adroit Insight is a team of data led insight experts and sector specialists who have spent more than a decade helping charities unlock the power of data. They combine deep technical knowledge with global charity-sector expertise to turn complex information into clear, actionable insight — supporting decisions about audiences, strategy and supporter engagement.

Beautiful Insights is a market research consultancy founded by marketers with senior careers in fundraising and marketing before moving into research. The team focuses on practical, audience-led evidence — particularly in the charity, higher education and business-to-business sectors — and works to make listening to supporters easier, stripping out complexity so organisations can act on what they learn.

Acknowledgements

A special thank you to Think CS, International Fundraising Leadership (IFL) Forum and the IOF Insight SIG Committee for their support and involvement in this project. We're grateful for their continued engagement and for helping bring this piece of sector-wide research to life.

Contact

For questions about the project please email james.long@adroitinsight.com