Animal Welfare Donors are Changing

How much do you know about animal welfare donors? Well, depending on when you last checked, you might be surprised at some of the demographic changes in the makeup of this group.

While animal welfare organizations didn’t see the same soar in donor files that food banks did in 2020, their programs still saw steady growth.

And as animal welfare organizations look beyond 2021 and 2022, investing in things like digital programs and major donor expansion, it’s important to understand exactly who their donors are. Our RKD data experts analyzed more than 598,000 donors across 80 animal welfare organizations to understand demographic trends such as age, household size, income, education level, gender and marital status.

Snapshot of Today’s Animal Welfare Donors

In the dashboard below, you can see what the average animal welfare donor looks like today.

For starters, 52% of animal welfare donors are married—a slightly lower percentage as compared to food bank and rescue mission donors. These animal welfare donors are also 64% women—quite the opposite compared to the average food bank or rescue mission donor.

Just under half of animal welfare donors (49%) have completed college. This percentage is higher than rescue mission donors (48%) but lower than food bank donors (52%).

Only 4% of animal welfare donors earn more than $500,000 annually, which is more than food bank donors (3%) and less than rescue mission donors (7%). Overall, 37% of animal welfare donors have household incomes of $150,000 or higher, a slightly lower percentage than food bank donors (38%) but well below rescue mission donors (49%).

When we look at household size, we see that 66% of animal welfare donors live alone or with one other person. That is likely related to the 81% of animal welfare donors who are age 50 or older.

Today’s Animal Welfare Donors Compared to 2013-14

The numbers above are insightful, but what’s even more interesting is how today’s animal welfare donors compare to those from a few years ago. We analyzed animal welfare donors in 2020-21 and compared them to animal welfare donors in 2013-14. Here’s what we uncovered:

The biggest difference is in age.

In 2013-14, more than half of animal welfare donors (52%) were age 70 or older, another 36% ranged from age 50 to 69, and only 11% were under age 50.

In 2020-21, only 40% of animal welfare donors are age 70 or older, while another 38% are ages 50-69. The remaining 22% of animal welfare donors today are under age 50—double what we see from just seven years earlier.

This shift has been driven by the trend of younger new donors over the last few years. The chart above compares core donors (those who have been with animal welfare organizations for two or more years) to new donors acquired in 2020-21.

The core group looks quite similar to the 2013-14 numbers:

• 52% ages 70 or older
• 37% ages 50-69
• 11% under age 50

The new donor group, however, is remarkably different:

• 27% ages 70 or older
• 40% ages 50-69
• 33% under age 50

Although the average age of animal welfare donor files has decreased, the average income has remained stagnant.

In 2013-14, the breakdown looked like this:

• 36.5% at $150,000 or more
• 40.1% at $75,000 to $149,999
• 23.4% at under $75,000

In 2020-21, income levels remain much the same:

• 36% at $150,000 or more
• 41% at $75,000 to $149,999
• 23% at under $75,000

When we put it all together, we see that donor value slowly trended upward in the last two years, particularly among donors over age 40. Donors between the ages of 18 and 25 have the lowest donor value in 2021.

Donors at Different-Sized Animal Welfare Organizations

We’ve seen how this shift toward younger donors looks across the entire animal welfare landscape, but how does the age profile look depending on the size of the organization?

The chart above shows that the larger the animal welfare organization, the younger its donors tend to be. Animal welfare organizations also have a higher proportion of donors aged 26-49 than food banks and rescue missions. First, look at the breakdown of donors 70 or older across the different sizes:

• 43% at Emerging (under 2,000 active donors)
• 38% at Small (2,000-4,999)
• 34% at Mid (5,000-9,999)
• 35% at Large (10,000+)

However, for those aged 50-69, we see no change as the animal welfare organization gets larger:

• 38% at Emerging
• 38% at Small
• 38% at Mid
• 38% at Large

But when we look at those under age 50, we see an increase in this age group as the organization grows, peaking at mid-sized organizations:

• 17% at Emerging
• 23% at Small
• 26% at Mid
• 24% at Large

The average household size breakdown is relatively the same, no matter the size of the animal welfare organization. Here’s a look at households with 2 or fewer people:

• 65% at Emerging
• 63% at Small
• 65% at Mid
• 62% at Large

Households with 3 or 4 people:

• 22% at Emerging
• 23% at Small
• 21% at Mid
• 22% at Large

And households with 5 or more people:

• 13% at Emerging
• 14% at Small
• 14% at Mid
• 16% at Large

When we look at average household income, we find that mid-sized organizations have significantly more donors with an annual income of $150,000 or higher.

Donors with income under $50,000:

• 10% at Emerging
• 12% at Small
• 7% at Mid
• 11% at Large

Donors with income from $50,000 to $149,999:

• 55% at Emerging
• 58% at Small
• 42% at Mid
• 61% at Large

• 34% at Emerging
• 31% at Small
• 50% at Mid
• 27% at Large

And finally, we find that education levels are similar across animal welfare organizations of all sizes. Donors who have not completed college:

• 51% at Emerging
• 53% at Small
• 51% at Mid
• 52% at Large

Donors who have completed college:

• 33% at Emerging
• 31% at Small
• 33% at Mid
• 33% at Large

Donors who have completed graduate school:

• 16% at Emerging
• 15% at Small
• 17% at Mid
• 16% at Large

Based on our findings, it’s clear that today’s animal welfare donors look different than they did in 2013. Not only are they younger, but their donor value has steadily increased, too. With this information in their pockets, successful animal welfare organizations can use this opportunity to invest in their digital fundraising approach and build stronger mid-level programs to prepare for a sustainable future.