Even as giving to Twin Cities nonprofits has rebounded in recent years, organizations face new challenges in getting their share of the money.
Donors are likely to want more information about how their dollars are spent before they commit to giving. They want to feel engaged in a cause that matters to them throughout the year, leaders of area nonprofits say.
In response, fundraising campaigns are changing. Many are becoming year-round efforts that enable contributors to see what their money is accomplishing. There are more volunteer opportunities, and more efforts to communicate online and in nontraditional methods.
"What I would say is postrecession donors are different, and we're different," said Sarah Caruso, president and chief executive of Greater Twin Cities United Way. "Donors want very specific information. They want a direct line of sight from their gift to the difference it's making in the community."
The new approaches are paying off. This year's Star Tribune Nonprofit 100, dominated by large health care concerns and private universities, saw revenue grow an average 5 percent in 2014, including donations, grants and sales of products.
Across the nation, Americans donated about $358.4 billion to charities in 2014, more than the previous peak in giving in 2007, before the Great Recession, according to the 2015 Giving USA report. The amount was the highest total in the report's 60-year history.
"I think the main reason [for the growth] is the healthier American economy," said Josh Birkholz, chair of Giving USA Foundation's advisory council on methodology and a principal at Edina-based nonprofit consulting firm Bentz Whaley Flessner.
Last year marked the fifth year in a row in which total giving increased. Of last year's donations, 72 percent were composed of gifts from individuals (excluding bequest gifts), helped by wealthy individuals giving more, Birkholz said.