Real-time reporting of philanthropy has moved a step closer with the launch on 15th June of the monthly Blackbaud Index of Charitable Giving in the US. Although there are several indices and resources already available in the country, including Giving USA from the Giving USA Foundation and Indiana University, the AFP Fundraising Effectiveness Survey, GuideStar, and the Quarterly Index of National Fundraising Performance from Target Analytics, another Blackbaud company, this is the first broad-based index to report on revenue trends on a monthly basis.

“Economic conditions, natural disasters, and market fluctuations have made it extremely difficult for non-profits to make fundraising decisions informed by the latest donor behaviour information,” says Chuck Longfield, Blackbaud chief scientist. “We agreed that a charitable giving index that provides insight into what happened in the prior few weeks would be very helpful to organisations."

Blackbaud software is used by more than 22,000 non-profits in 75 countries. The initial Index will start with 1,400 participating organisations of all sizes in the US representing $2.2bn (£1.5bn) revenue, but it is hoped this number will quickly grow. The company hopes to broaden the Index to include other countries and regions, but does not yet have a timeline for this expansion.

The Index will record actual revenue from all sources of fundraising activities: direct mail, telemarketing, face-to-face fundraising, email, online, mobile giving, small- and large-scale events, and major and deferred giving, and includes giving by individuals, corporations and foundations.

Recorded monthly, it will give a three-month moving average of year-over-year percent changes in revenue. Taking a moving average is less sensitive to the timing of one-off events – an annual race taking place in April one year and May the next, for example.

The Index is categorised into eight sectors: arts, culture, and humanities; education; environment and animals; healthcare; human services; international affairs; public and society benefit; and religion.

Longfield explains the benefits for philanthropists: “With tools like this Index, non-profits are able to make sound business decisions based on current fundraising trends and data and will become increasingly efficient. What that means for donors is that more of their donations will make a direct impact on the mission, which is what most philanthropists strive to do.”

The first Index brings good news – that overall revenue increased by 12.1% for the three months ending April 2010 as compared to the same period in 2009.

Liz Lipscomb, head of research at Charities Aid Foundation (CAF), welcomed the initiative and said:"Collecting detailed fundraising data on a monthly basis provides a valuable tool for the sector, and if extended to include non-Blackbaud non-profits would provide the first real-time national picture of fundraising trends. This model would also work well in the UK, although increasing the numbers of charities taking part may be a struggle, especially during the difficult post-recession period.”

A similar  innovation in US philanthropy research is the ‘Individual Giving Model’ used by the Center of Wealth and Philanthropy (CWP) at Boston College and reported by Philanthropy UK in the last Bulletin. The model is the first in the country designed to estimate future and real-time charitable giving by households on a quarterly basis, and estimates how the most recent changes in financial resources affect the aggregate level of household giving.

Also in the US, the Foundation Center hopes to launch its new system of US grants reporting later in the year following its union with Grantsfire, a web-based system to capture and publish grants information using Web 2.0 tools and technology. As reported by Philanthropy UK in April, Grantsfire will become part of the Foundation Center's existing electronic grant reporting system – the Philanthropy In/sight mapping portal used by 450 foundations throughout the world and featured in our March newsletter.