Fundraising Efficiency Report

How much does it cost each charity to raise $1?

Cost per dollar raised: The most efficient charities spend less than $0.10 to raise each $1. Best practices suggest spending no more than $0.25 per $1 raised. Charities spending more may have inefficient fundraising operations, high marketing costs, or simply less effective campaigns. Lower is better!
Charities Analyzed
4613
With fundraising data
Total Raised
$866.1M
Donations & fundraising
Fundraising Costs
$170.9M
Total spent fundraising
Avg Cost per $1
$0.20
Sector average
1385
<$0.10/$ raised
|
2288
>$0.50/$ raised

Efficiency Scale

$0.00$0.10 (Excellent)$0.25 (Good)$0.35 (Average)$0.50+ (Poor)

The scale shows cost per dollar raised. Charities on the left (green) are most efficient, spending less to raise each dollar. Best practice is to stay under $0.25.

Average by Sector

Environment
$0.31
per $1 raised
Religion
$0.51
per $1 raised
International Aid
$0.56
per $1 raised
Other
$0.88
per $1 raised
Community Development
$1.29
per $1 raised
Education
$1.45
per $1 raised
Advocacy
$1.87
per $1 raised
Social Services
$2.80
per $1 raised
Sports & Recreation
$4.23
per $1 raised
Health
$11.54
per $1 raised
Animal Welfare
$12.03
per $1 raised
Arts & Culture
$28.09
per $1 raised

ICNPO Category Benchmarks

International Classification of Non-Profit Organisations — standardized benchmarks for cross-sector comparison

Environment
88 charities
$0.31
Average
Development and Housing
40 charities
$0.33
Average
Philanthropic Intermediaries and Voluntarism Promotion
14 charities
$0.34
Average
International
20 charities
$0.43
Poor
Religion
606 charities
$0.51
Very Poor
Education and Research
1824 charities
$1.45
Very Poor
Law, Advocacy and Politics
10 charities
$1.87
Very Poor
Social Services
287 charities
$2.80
Very Poor
Health
660 charities
$11.59
Very Poor
Culture and Recreation
870 charities
$28.87
Very Poor

Most Efficient Fundraisers

1
Nelson Tasman Region Hospice Investment Trust
Health
$0.00
per $1 raised
$6.2M
raised
2
Mairehau Primary Home and School Association
Education
$0.00
per $1 raised
$21K
raised
3
Ashburton Aviation Museum Society Trust
Arts & Culture
$0.00
per $1 raised
$465K
raised
CharityAmount RaisedFundraising CostCost per $1Rating
$6.2M
95% of revenue
$14
$0.00
Excellent
$21K
99% of revenue
$2
$0.00
Excellent
$465K
68% of revenue
$45
$0.00
Excellent
$465K
68% of revenue
$45
$0.00
Excellent
Kairos Foundation NZ Inc
EducationFY 2024
$38K
55% of revenue
$5
$0.00
Excellent
$108K
50% of revenue
$15
$0.00
Excellent
Kitty Kingdom
HealthFY 2026
$62K
55% of revenue
$10
$0.00
Excellent
Kitty Kingdom
HealthFY 2025
$62K
55% of revenue
$10
$0.00
Excellent
Nyingje Trust
International AidFY 2025
$6K
100% of revenue
$1
$0.00
Excellent
$87K
58% of revenue
$20
$0.00
Excellent
Waikato Regional Property Trust
Community DevelopmentFY 2023
$29.2M
97% of revenue
$7K
$0.00
Excellent
$94K
17% of revenue
$32
$0.00
Excellent
$459K
95% of revenue
$157
$0.00
Excellent
$92K
87% of revenue
$33
$0.00
Excellent
$165K
98% of revenue
$61
$0.00
Excellent
$53K
99% of revenue
$22
$0.00
Excellent
$43K
100% of revenue
$18
$0.00
Excellent
$256K
48% of revenue
$117
$0.00
Excellent
$205K
95% of revenue
$98
$0.00
Excellent
$278K
99% of revenue
$135
$0.00
Excellent
$107K
75% of revenue
$53
$0.00
Excellent
$94K
68% of revenue
$52
$0.00
Excellent
$274K
29% of revenue
$158
$0.00
Excellent
$54K
87% of revenue
$40
$0.00
Excellent
$95K
56% of revenue
$73
$0.00
Excellent
$272K
46% of revenue
$243
$0.00
Excellent
$55K
96% of revenue
$51
$0.00
Excellent
$55K
96% of revenue
$51
$0.00
Excellent
$57K
66% of revenue
$54
$0.00
Excellent
$39K
100% of revenue
$38
$0.00
Excellent
$9K
100% of revenue
$9
$0.00
Excellent
$9K
100% of revenue
$9
$0.00
Excellent
$441K
39% of revenue
$461
$0.00
Excellent
$110K
36% of revenue
$117
$0.00
Excellent
$207K
66% of revenue
$225
$0.00
Excellent
$183K
96% of revenue
$207
$0.00
Excellent
$191K
99% of revenue
$220
$0.00
Excellent
$136K
17% of revenue
$160
$0.00
Excellent
Stop Demand Foundation
Social ServicesFY 2025
$8K
100% of revenue
$10
$0.00
Excellent
$92K
91% of revenue
$129
$0.00
Excellent
Laingholm Volunteer Fire Brigade
Social ServicesFY 2025
$16K
57% of revenue
$22
$0.00
Excellent
Laingholm Volunteer Fire Brigade
Social ServicesFY 2026
$16K
57% of revenue
$22
$0.00
Excellent
$14K
15% of revenue
$20
$0.00
Excellent
$134K
92% of revenue
$200
$0.00
Excellent
$57K
34% of revenue
$90
$0.00
Excellent
$111K
97% of revenue
$174
$0.00
Excellent
$12K
100% of revenue
$20
$0.00
Excellent
$91K
100% of revenue
$149
$0.00
Excellent
$199K
25% of revenue
$337
$0.00
Excellent
$199K
25% of revenue
$337
$0.00
Excellent

Understanding Fundraising Efficiency

Efficiency Bands

  • <$0.10: Lowest cost-to-raise band
  • $0.10-$0.20: Within commonly-cited benchmarks
  • $0.20-$0.35: Mid-range cost-to-raise
  • $0.35-$0.50: Above sector-typical cost-to-raise
  • >$0.50: Highest cost-to-raise band — context matters (e.g. early-stage, niche cause)

Factors Affecting Efficiency

  • Type of fundraising (events vs appeals vs regular giving)
  • Donor acquisition vs retention costs
  • Scale of operations
  • Marketing and campaign costs
  • Investment in donor relationships

Data sourced from Charities Services register and annual returns. Our datasets may not be complete. Automated analysis can produce errors. If you believe any data on this page is incorrect, please contact us at hello@charitydata.co.nz.

For informational purposes only. Not investment advice.