# Year-End Giving: Is December 37% of Your Year, or 18%?

Two credible 2025 benchmarks put December at 37% and 18% of the year because they divide by different totals. This guide explains both and shows how to compute your own December share.

## Key takeaways
- M+R Benchmarks 2026 found that nonprofits received 37% of their 2025 online revenue in December, measured across 180 participating organizations with established online programs (M+R).
- The Blackbaud Institute's 2025 Trends in Giving, covering more than 7,500 organizations and all channels, put December at roughly 18% of annual giving and the fourth quarter at more than 36% (Blackbaud Institute).
- The two figures do not conflict: 37% is a share of online revenue only, and 18% is a share of revenue from every channel, including checks, mail, and major gifts.
- An organization with mixed channels that plans staff time and cash flow on the 37% figure will overweight December and under-plan October and November.
- Your own December share is two divisions from your gift file: December revenue over annual revenue, computed once for online gifts and once for all channels.

Whether December is 37% or 18% of your year depends on what you divide by. [M+R Benchmarks 2026](https://mrbenchmarks.com/fundraising/) reports that "Nonprofits received 37% of all 2025 online revenue in December," a figure drawn from online gifts at 180 participating organizations with established online programs. The [Blackbaud Institute's 2025 Trends in Giving](https://institute.blackbaud.com/resources/2025-trends-in-giving), which covers more than 7,500 organizations and every channel, found that December brought in "roughly 18% of annual giving" and the fourth quarter more than 36%. Both numbers are accurate. They answer different questions, and year-end giving plans go wrong when an organization borrows the answer to the wrong one.

## Where does the 37% December figure come from?

M+R Benchmarks is an annual study of online fundraising, email, advertising, and related channels. The 2026 edition draws on data from 180 participating nonprofits, reports medians rather than averages, and sorts organizations into size tiers by their annual online revenue ([M+R methodology](https://mrbenchmarks.com/)). Its December finding is a share of online revenue only. M+R also reports that the last day of the year alone brought in 4% of annual online revenue and the final week about 10%, and that online revenue for the average participant grew 15% in 2025.

**37%** — of 2025 online revenue arrived in December across M+R's 180 participating organizations, a share of online gifts only ([M+R Benchmarks 2026, Fundraising](https://mrbenchmarks.com/fundraising/))

A likely reason for the online spike, which neither benchmark tests directly, is the December 31 end of the tax year: a donor who decides to give before the deadline can do it online in minutes. Checks, pledge payments, and major gifts tend to follow slower calendars, so a share built only from online gifts can show a sharper December spike than the whole file does. Our earlier guide to [year-end giving](https://donorinsights.com/articles/year-end-giving) treated the 37% figure as a concentration risk for online programs. This piece asks what it means for the whole budget.

## Where does the 18% December figure come from?

The Blackbaud Institute's data spotlight, released March 18, 2026, draws on more than 7,500 nonprofit organizations representing more than $66 billion in fundraising revenue. Its denominator is total charitable revenue from every channel. By that measure, December was roughly 18% of annual giving and the fourth quarter more than 36%. The same report says that online giving grew about 11% year over year, "peaking at nearly 15% growth in November," and that revenue grew about 11.7% at large organizations (those raising $10 million or more), about 2% at midsize organizations, and fell about 6.4% at small organizations (up to $1 million).

Two 2025 benchmarks for year-end concentration, on different denominators. December online share is from M+R (180 participants, online revenue only). December and Q4 all-channel shares are from the Blackbaud Institute (7,500+ organizations, all channels, reported as roughly 18% and more than 36%).

|  | Share of annual revenue |
| --- | --- |
| December, online only (M+R) | 37% |
| December, all channels (Blackbaud) | 18% |
| Q4, all channels (Blackbaud) | 36% |

**18%** — of annual giving from every channel arrived in December 2025 across more than 7,500 organizations, with the fourth quarter above 36% ([Blackbaud Institute, 2025 Trends in Giving (March 2026)](https://institute.blackbaud.com/resources/2025-trends-in-giving))

## Why do the two benchmarks differ, and which one is yours?

The benchmarks differ in two ways. The first is the denominator: online revenue in one, all revenue in the other. The second is the sample: M+R's participants are organizations with established online programs, sorted into tiers by online revenue (its smallest tier is under $1 million of online revenue a year), and Blackbaud's data covers small, midsize, and large organizations by total revenue. Neither study is wrong, and neither is a forecast for your organization.

How the two December benchmarks are built (M+R Benchmarks 2026 and Blackbaud Institute 2025 Trends in Giving)

| Benchmark | December share | What it divides by | Sample |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| M+R Benchmarks 2026 | 37% | Online revenue only | 180 participants with established online programs, medians |
| Blackbaud Institute 2025 Trends | About 18% (Q4 above 36%) | All charitable revenue, every channel | 7,500+ Blackbaud customer organizations, $66B+ in revenue |

The practical rule: use M+R's figure to plan the online program, meaning email volume, donation-page capacity, and ad budgets in December. Use an all-channel figure to plan the organization, meaning cash flow, staff time, and the board's expectations for the year. An organization whose revenue is mostly online will sit closer to 37%. An organization that raises most of its money through mail, checks, events, and major gifts will sit closer to 18%, or below it.

## What goes wrong when you plan on the wrong December number?

Planning on 37% when your file behaves like 18% moves effort away from the months that carry more of your revenue. A team that believes more than a third of the year arrives in December tends to hold its best appeal, its board calls, and its staff time for the last three weeks. November gets less. Blackbaud's 2025 data also shows November mattering: online giving grew fastest in November, nearly 15% over the same month a year earlier, although that is a growth rate, not a share of the year. And the [Fundraising Effectiveness Project](https://publications.fepreports.org/archive/2025-q4/) reported that sector giving grew an estimated 5.0% in 2025, against growth of 3.7% through the third quarter, which FEP says means "Q4 itself was exceptionally strong." The fourth quarter as a whole, October through December, carried the year. December was one month of it.

The cash-flow error runs in both directions. A budget that expects 37% of all revenue in December will show a shortfall in October and November that is not real, and a finance committee may cut spending it did not need to cut. A budget that expects 18% when the organization is mostly online will be surprised by a December surge it did not staff for, with gifts waiting for acknowledgment into January.

## How do you compute your own December share?

Your own number is two divisions away. Take last year's gifts, total the December revenue, and divide by the full-year revenue. Do it twice: once for online gifts only, which is comparable to M+R's 37%, and once for all channels, which is comparable to Blackbaud's 18%. Then do the same for the fourth quarter. The table below shows the arithmetic for a fictional organization, Harbor Lane Literacy Project. The figures are illustrative.

Illustrative December and Q4 shares for a fictional organization, Harbor Lane Literacy Project (hypothetical figures)

| Channel | Annual revenue | December revenue | December share | Q4 revenue | Q4 share |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Online gifts | $300,000 | $111,000 | 37% | $150,000 | 50% |
| Mail, checks, events, major gifts | $900,000 | $105,000 | 11.7% | $300,000 | 33.3% |
| All channels | $1,200,000 | $216,000 | 18% | $450,000 | 37.5% |

Harbor Lane's online program matches M+R's benchmark exactly, and its whole file matches Blackbaud's. Both statements are true at once, which is the point of the example. If Harbor Lane's development director read only the 37% figure, she would plan for $444,000 in December. The organization's own file says $216,000. The table also shows where the remaining fourth-quarter revenue sits: $234,000 arrives in October and November, more than December itself, and deserves a plan of its own.

## What changes for year-end giving in December 2026?

December 2026 is the first year-end under a new federal deduction for donors who do not itemize. Beginning with tax year 2026, the [IRS](https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/one-big-beautiful-bill-provisions) states, "individuals who do not itemize may deduct up to $1,000 of cash contributions made to eligible charitable organizations ($2,000 for married taxpayers filing jointly)." Only cash gifts qualify, and gifts to donor-advised funds and supporting organizations do not. The [IU Lilly Family School of Philanthropy](https://philanthropy.indianapolis.iu.edu/news-events/news/_news/2026/less-charitable-giving-more-givers-likely-with-obbb-tax-changes-compared-to-previous-law-study-finds.html) models this deduction at about $4.39 billion a year of additional household giving against prior law, and the law as a whole at about 8 million more giving households. Whether the new deduction shifts more small gifts into December is not yet measured. It is a reason to tell donors about the deduction plainly this year, without giving tax advice, and to compare your 2026 December share against your 2025 share in January.

1. Compute last year's December and fourth-quarter shares, online and all-channel, from your own gift file.
2. Plan email volume and page capacity on the online share, and plan cash flow and staff time on the all-channel share.
3. Give October and November a written plan sized to the revenue they actually carried last year.
4. Staff December acknowledgments for the online surge, so gifts made on December 31 are thanked in the first week of January.
5. In January, compare the 2026 shares to 2025 and note whether the new non-itemizer deduction appears to have moved small cash gifts into December.

> **How current are these numbers?**
>
> Both benchmarks describe calendar 2025. M+R Benchmarks 2026 reports medians from 180 participants and counts online revenue only. Blackbaud's figures come from the Blackbaud Institute's March 2026 summary of its customers' data, so they describe Blackbaud users rather than every nonprofit. The tax deduction figures are a model estimate, not a measurement.

The only December share that should set your plan is your own. Donor Insights reads your contacts and gifts, so the month-by-month split of your revenue, by channel, is a chart you look at rather than a benchmark you borrow. The [methodology](https://donorinsights.com/methodology) starts from your own giving records, and the [platform](https://donorinsights.com/platform) shows each season how much of your year arrived in November, in December, and on the last day, so next year's [year-end campaign](https://donorinsights.com/articles/year-end-campaign-playbook) is sized to the donors you actually steward.

## FAQ

**What percentage of giving happens in December?**

It depends on the denominator. M+R Benchmarks 2026 found that 37% of 2025 online revenue arrived in December across 180 participating organizations with established online programs. The Blackbaud Institute found that December brought in roughly 18% of all-channel giving across more than 7,500 organizations in 2025, with the fourth quarter above 36%.

**Why is the online December share so much higher than the all-channel share?**

The benchmarks do not test the cause, but a likely one is the December 31 end of the tax year: a donor can give online in minutes before the deadline. Checks, pledge payments, events, and major gifts follow slower calendars spread across the year, so they dilute the December spike when every channel is counted.

**Which December benchmark should a small organization use?**

Neither, ideally. Compute your own December share from last year's gifts. If you need a benchmark, use the all-channel figure for budgeting and the online figure only for planning the online program. Blackbaud's data also shows small organizations' revenue fell about 6.4% in 2025 while large organizations grew about 11.7%, so large-organization benchmarks can mislead a small shop.

**How do I calculate my organization's December share?**

Total last year's December revenue and divide it by the full-year revenue. Do it once for online gifts and once for all channels, then repeat for October through December. The four results tell you how concentrated your year-end really is.

**Does the new 2026 tax deduction change year-end giving?**

Beginning with tax year 2026, donors who do not itemize may deduct up to $1,000 of cash gifts, or $2,000 for married couples filing jointly, according to the IRS. Gifts to donor-advised funds and supporting organizations do not qualify. Whether it moves more gifts into December has not been measured yet, so compare your 2026 and 2025 December shares in January.

## Sources
- [M+R (2026). M+R Benchmarks 2026: Fundraising. Online revenue, 2025 data, 180 participants.](https://mrbenchmarks.com/fundraising/)
- [M+R (2026). M+R Benchmarks 2026: study overview and methodology.](https://mrbenchmarks.com/)
- [Blackbaud Institute (2026). 2025 Trends in Giving. 2025 data, 7,500+ organizations, $66B+ revenue (Q4 36.1%, December about 18%).](https://institute.blackbaud.com/resources/2025-trends-in-giving)
- [Blackbaud Institute (2026). New Blackbaud Institute data shows resilience in 2025 charitable giving. Press release, March 18, 2026.](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-blackbaud-institute-data-shows-resilience-in-2025-charitable-giving-highlights-areas-of-opportunities-for-nonprofits-in-2026-302716900.html)
- [Fundraising Effectiveness Project (2026). Q4 2025 Report. 2025 data, 15,102 organizations.](https://publications.fepreports.org/archive/2025-q4/)
- [Internal Revenue Service. One, Big, Beautiful Bill provisions (non-itemizer charitable deduction). Reviewed September 2026.](https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/one-big-beautiful-bill-provisions)
- [IU Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, presented by CCS Fundraising (2026). Philanthropy Outlook: Estimating Effects on Charitable Giving from the One Big Beautiful Bill. Release of March 17, 2026 (model estimates vs prior law).](https://philanthropy.indianapolis.iu.edu/news-events/news/_news/2026/less-charitable-giving-more-givers-likely-with-obbb-tax-changes-compared-to-previous-law-study-finds.html)

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