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Right now, donors are donating. Activists are activating. Tweets are being retweeted, ads are being served, links are being clicked. Data, good sweet wonderful data, is being generated—but if we let it slip through our fingers, it does us no good at all.

That’s what makes our annual Benchmarks Study so great—it freezes the flow of data, and captures this moment so we can examine it, contemplate it, and learn from it.

Every year, M+R teams up with nonprofits large and small (and medium) to compile an in-depth look at nonprofit data, strategy, and trends. We’re pretty dang proud of how comprehensive and useful Benchmarks is for nonprofit fundraisers, organizers, and marketers—and we work hard to make each edition better than the last.

A big part of that is making sure we include data from a wide and ever-growing variety of nonprofits. That’s where you come in. Because the only thing we love more than data is MORE DATA.

If you take a look at the 2018 Benchmarks Study, you’ll find hard numbers and deep analysis of email, fundraising, advocacy, social media, digital ads, web stats, new stats, and lots of pretty pictures. And at the very end, you’ll find a list of over 150 nonprofits who contributed their data to the massive number-crunching operation that is Benchmarks.

We want YOU to join us this year. Benchmarks just won’t be the same without you. By adding your data, you’ll help make Benchmarks even more useful for folks just like you who are trying to figure out this whole online fundraising/advocacy/organizing/marketing thing.

There would be only a little effort required on your part. Also, in case you were wondering, it’s free. We will outline what data we need from you, mostly a couple of simple data exports and some coding of your message data. Then our team will do the legwork to get the data pulled and coded. And in addition to helping make the study, after it’s released you’ll get an individualized analysis comparing the data you submitted for your organization to other organizations of your size and type. Again, we take measures to make sure that your organization’s data is confidential and non-identifiable in the final study. Only you will know how your organization stacks up in the end!

If you would like to participate, please review and fill out the consent form here. We’ll then reach out to you about next steps.

We can’t wait to nerd out with all of you for another year!