The average email open rate for nonprofits is approximately 25% to 29%. This rate often outperforms for-profit sectors, with some data indicating a range as high as 26.6% to over 38% depending on the specific niche, such as service-oriented or member-based organizations.
For nonprofit services organizations, for example, the average email open rate is 37% and the average click-through rate is about 2.4%. Reviewing and benchmarking nonprofit email marketing statistics can help your team monitor and measure key engagement metrics regularly.
The "33 rule" for nonprofits usually refers to the IRS Public Support Test, requiring 501(c)(3) public charities to show they receive at least one-third (33 1/3%) of their support from the general public or other public charities over a five-year rolling period, distinguishing them from private foundations by ensuring broad community reliance. This is crucial for maintaining public charity status, involves reporting on Form 990 Schedule A, and can be passed through meeting the 10% "facts and circumstances" test if the main test is missed.
A good email open rate should be between 17-28%, depending on the industry you're in. While knowing these numbers is a great starting point, it's worth it to look into your specific industry averages and compare your metrics with those in your specific industry.
The 80/20 rule (Pareto Principle) for nonprofits suggests that roughly 80% of results come from 20% of causes, most commonly meaning 20% of donors provide 80% of donations, but it also applies to programs, volunteers, and marketing efforts, guiding organizations to focus resources on high-impact areas like major donors or effective programs for greater efficiency and fundraising success. It emphasizes donor stewardship, program evaluation, and targeted communications to maximize impact, though some argue for diversifying away from over-reliance on a small donor base.
What are the most common mistakes nonprofits make? Some of the most common mistakes include unclear missions, weak board engagement, poor donor communication, lack of financial transparency, and neglecting compliance requirements. Many of these issues are fixable with the right tools and support.
According to Campaign Monitor, a healthy email open rate can be anything from 20% - 40% (or higher). As you start your email marketing campaigns, your only competition is your previous campaign.
For marketing emails, a typical open rate ranges between 15% and 25%, while transactional emails generally achieve higher rates, typically between 30% and 40%. This is because recipients are often expecting transactional emails, such as account confirmations, password reset links, or order receipts.
Despite this, it remains a useful directional metric and a good place to start your email data analysis. In 2025, average benchmarks for open rates across most industries hover between 40% and 45%. If your rates consistently fall significantly below this range, it may signal issues with deliverability or list quality.
Speaking of time, it is often asked how much time a chief executive should spend on fundraising. The fundraiser in me says, “as much as it takes.” However, the rule of thumb is about 25% of your time in a typical fundraising year and 50% of your time in a season of a capital campaign.
Email campaigns typically deliver 3:1 to 5:1 ROI because the costs are so low. If you're seeing less than 2:1, it's time to revisit your messaging and targeting. The national average for overall nonprofit fundraising ROI sits around 4:1, meaning most organizations raise $4 for every $1 they spend.
What is the Average Indirect Cost Rate for Nonprofits? While no two nonprofit organizations will have identical needs, structures, or budgets, an indirect cost rate of between ten and fifteen percent has served as a longstanding rule of thumb.
An email open rate measures the percentage of email list recipients who open a specific email out of the total number of emails delivered. According to recent data sampled from over 3.3M email marketing campaigns, a good open rate for email marketing is around 42.35%.
What is a good open rate for email? There's no single number that defines a “good” open rate, but most data puts the average email open rate between 30% and 40%—and recent email marketing benchmarks show an overall average of 35.9%, with results varying by audience type and industry.
A bad average Email Open Rate is generally below 10%. It suggests the emails struggle to capture the audience's attention. However, it's crucial to consider unique circumstances. If emails consistently fall below industry averages, it's time to reassess the email marketing strategy.
In email marketing, open rates vary between 15% and 25% across most industries. If your campaign is hitting a 30% email open rate, you're doing better than average.
In this version of the test, at least ⅓ (or 33.3%) of a nonprofit's funding should come from donations from the general public (according to IRS standards) combined with program service income.
Here are some of the worst offenders:
You can use Charity Navigator to find and support thousands of charities that align with your passions and values. We use data from the IRS, partners, and the charities themselves to power our unbiased ratings so that you can give with confidence. Just starting out with giving?