Historical and Monthly Giving Trends
This dashboard-format analytic pairs a long-run year-over-year giving history with a month-by-month current-versus-prior comparison, drawn from analyses QX38 and QX39.
How to use the Historical and Monthly Giving Trends
This is a dashboard-format analytic that pairs your long-run giving history with a close-up of the current year. It is built on the data from analysis QX38 (year-over-year donor and giving history) and QX39 (monthly giving, current year versus the prior two). Two chart tabs tell the visual story while two detail tabs hold the complete underlying figures.
The Giving and Donor Trends tab charts total giving alongside donor counts by fiscal year, so you can see whether revenue growth is being driven by more donors or by larger gifts from a stable base, an important distinction for planning. The Monthly Giving Comparison tab lays the current year's monthly giving over the prior two years, which lets you judge pacing and spot months that are running behind before the year is over. The key measures are annual totals with their year-over-year change and the current-versus-prior monthly gap.
The strategic value is context. A single year's number means little without a decade of history behind it, and a month's number means little without the same month in prior years beside it. Together they let you set realistic goals and catch a developing shortfall while there is still time to respond.
You should refresh the monthly comparison each month and review the full history at annual planning time. Your executive director and board will find the long-run trend most useful for goal setting, while the development team should watch the monthly comparison for early warning. When a month trails the prior years, adjust that month's appeals and outreach rather than waiting for the year-end total.
Measure success by whether your annual goals track the historical trajectory, and by how quickly the team responds to months flagged as running behind.
Analytic ID: QX258
Analytic Name: Historical and Monthly Giving Trends
Focus: 3.3: Dashboards; 1.1: Year-over-Year Donation Trends; 1.4: Seasonal Giving Patterns
Type: Dashboard Style
Scope: Organization
Description: Year-over-year donor and giving history dashboard plus a month-by-month current-vs-prior-two-years giving comparison.
Key Question: How has overall donor activity and giving trended year over year, and how does the current year compare month to month?
Action: Use the long-run trend and current-year pacing to set goals and flag months that need attention.
Fiscal-Year Timing: fiscal month 1 (early in the fiscal year)