A guide to charity KPIs

In the charity sector, we understand precisely how statistics matter. The right data and numbers can bring audiences to action, as we’ve seen before when Shelter releases its annual report on homelessness. The figures galvanise fundraising, drive support, and help charities benchmark their impact on the issue over time   

 

When it comes to both impactful and operational metrics, key performance indicators (KPIs) across both types of work measure progress. KPIs, in short, are sign posts that help managers steer towards meaningful goals.  

 

Here, we go over what charities track and how they matter across different areas of performance.  

 

 

Fundraising performance in numbers 

 

As a core part of charity operations, fundraising KPIs are used to track the successes and achievements of campaigns.  

 

The most common KPIs are:  

 

• • Donor and donor growth rate
    

As two separate measures, the number of overall donors shows how many people donated to a campaign. In terms of growth, this measures the change in the number of donors between two periods.  

 

• • Donor retention 

Donor retention digs a bit deeper into who is actually donating. This KPI looks at whether the same donors returned to support the same initiative later. It is used to advocate for or improve upon different fundraising techniques. Remember, donor retention also tells you the converse information as well – how many donors don’t come back.  
 

• • Average donation size 

The average donation size is a nominal value telling readers how much money each donor brought in. The power in this figure is in forecasting – you can expect a certain amount in fundraising if you’re aware of your audience size, conversion rate, and donation size.  
 

• • Fundraising return-on-investment 

Return-on-investment (ROI) is important for finance and management functions, written as either a multiple or percentage. It measures the cost of running the fundraising event versus how much money is actually raised. The calculation is done by taking the total fundraising revenue divided by the fundraising expenditure.  

 

 

KPIs that demonstrate impact 

 

This year, like last, the emphasis on diversity and inclusion, sustainability, and impact are crucial. KPIs measure exactly what you are achieving in these areas. Use them in annual reports or simply just let audiences know where you are at.  

 

These are the metrics that matter:  
 

• • Carbon footprint and emissions 

A hot topic for every industry, reducing carbon emissions starts with tracking. KPIs to follow are measured in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e).  

 

• • Number of beneficiaries that have been helped 

Assessing how ‘successful’ charity initiatives are considers how many people have been helped. For those delivering services, a growth in beneficiaries normally brings more success. It’s also a number which funders like to see when making decisions of which initiatives to support.  

 

• • Beneficiary satisfaction 

Not strictly a quantitative KPI, beneficiary satisfaction can be qualitative. Stories, photos, and short excerpts of how people have been helped make a big splash. Often, donors and audiences connect with not only the beneficiaries, but those related to them.  

 

 

Charting digital strategy  

 

At Charity Digital, we’ve placed a lot of emphasis on digital strategy and outcomes.  

 

To measure the achievements, use the below statistics:  
 

• • Click-through/open rate 

For emails, the click-through and open rates relate to how successful the personalisation strategy is. When sending an email, customising the details gets recipients to open the email and then click on the relevant links. Hence, the rates relate to the percentage of those successful emails versus those that aren’t opened. 
  

• • Impressions and reach 

Both impressions and engagement are measured over social media platforms. Impressions is an absolute figure that measures how many times the content has been displayed. Sprout Social explains both reach and impressions: “Reach is the total number of people who see your content. Impressions are the number of times your content is displayed, no matter if it was clicked or not.”  

 

 

What matters to overall charity health 

 

As a whole, industry watchers check out finances and how management performs.  

 

Finance related KPIs tell a lot about how money is managed:  

 

• • Revenue reliability

Calculated by taking the total revenue figure across a number of years, finance teams forecast over the next period. This can come in a pro-forma budget or other document.

• • Reserves 

Not strictly a ratio or KPI, the total reserves of the organisation measures how much ‘fire power’ operations have that’s not earmarked. The calculation takes the total funds of the charity, minus restricted funds, fixed assets and any other designated obligations.  
 

• • Liquidity cover 

Take the total cash on hand and divide this by the average monthly expenditure. This gives a KPI or ratio of how many months the charity can operate without any other income.  
 

• • Employee turnover 

The number of workers that leave divided by the total number of staff, yields a percentage. This represents the turnover rate. Charity outsiders like to look at this figure as it tells a lot about the working environment and potentially, how happy people are working there.