Avid Benchmarks compares your fundraising performance against peer organizations using live, CRM-connected data. Learn how peer matching works, what metrics are benchmarked, and how to use benchmarks to inform strategy.
Applies to: All Avid users with Benchmarks access
What is benchmarking in Avid?
Benchmarking measures your fundraising results against organizations similar to yours. Avid Benchmarks pulls live data from connected CRM systems, email platforms, and analytics tools. You see how your performance compares—not against outdated surveys, but against real, current results.
Access Benchmarks from the Benchmarks page in the left navigation sidebar.
Why benchmarks matter
Internal trends tell you whether you are improving. Benchmarks tell you whether you are keeping pace with—or outperforming—your peers.
Without external context, a 5% increase in donor retention could look strong. Benchmarks might reveal that similar organizations achieved 12%. That difference changes your strategy. Benchmarks help you set realistic goals, justify resource requests, and identify areas where you are falling behind or leading.
How peer matching works
Avid does not compare you against every nonprofit in the platform. It matches you against a relevant peer group so the comparison is meaningful.
Matching criteria
Avid builds your peer group along these dimensions:
- Organization size – Compares you against organizations with similar revenue, so the comparison reflects your operating scale.
- Cause area / sector – Matches organizations in the same or related mission categories (e.g., education, health, environment).
- Industry-wide – You can also benchmark against the entire nonprofit sector for a broader view.
How data stays private
Benchmarks are built from pre-anonymized, aggregate data. No organization or individual donor can be identified in the benchmark dataset. Your data contributes to the pool, but your specific results are never visible to other users. See Data Security and Compliance: Common Questions for more detail.
What metrics are benchmarked
Avid Benchmarks covers the key dimensions of fundraising health. These align with the metrics tracked on your Scorecard.
Core fundraising metrics
- Retention – The percentage of donors who gave again in a subsequent period. Compare your retention rate against peers to gauge loyalty.
- Acquisition – The number of new donors gained. See whether your growth keeps pace with similar organizations.
- Reactivation – The rate at which lapsed donors return. Identify whether your reactivation efforts are above or below the norm.
- Upgrade – How often donors increase their giving level. Benchmark your upgrade trajectory against peers.
- Awareness – Measures of reach and engagement that indicate top-of-funnel health.
Additional dimensions
- Revenue and donor growth – Track total revenue and active donor counts over time.
- Donation behavior – Average gift size, giving frequency, and engagement trends.
- Donor lifecycle – Movement from first-time giving to multi-year commitments.
- Segmented insights – Performance broken down by donor type (broad-based, mid-level, major).
- Contactability – Impact of having donor email addresses, mailing addresses, and phone numbers.
How to use benchmarks to inform strategy
Benchmarks are most useful when you tie them to specific decisions. Here are four ways to act on what you find.
1. Identify performance gaps
Compare each metric against your peer group. Flag any area where you fall significantly below the benchmark. Prioritize those areas in your next planning cycle.
2. Set realistic goals
Use peer medians as a baseline when setting annual targets. Aiming for the top quartile gives you an ambitious but grounded goal.
3. Justify investment
Show stakeholders how your metrics compare to peers. If your retention lags the benchmark, that data supports a case for investing in stewardship programs.
4. Track progress over time
Revisit benchmarks regularly. A metric that was below average last quarter may have improved. Benchmarks give you an external yardstick alongside your internal trend lines.
Key terms
- Peer group – The set of organizations Avid matches you against based on size, sector, and other criteria.
- Aggregate data – Combined, anonymized data from multiple organizations. No individual org is identifiable.
- Scorecard – Avid's dashboard that rates your fundraising health across five core metrics using a 4-star system.
Related
- Data Security and Compliance: Common Questions – How benchmark data stays anonymized and private.