Food Bank Donors are Changing

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

The COVID-19 pandemic, of course, played a huge role in reshaping donor files at food banks across the U.S. Many food banks doubled their total number of donors from 2019 to 2020. And these donor files have gotten younger as Gen Xers and Millennials increased their giving to food banks.

Now, as food banks look to the future of fundraising, it’s important to understand exactly who these donors are. Our RKD data experts analyzed more than 1 million donors at 72 food banks to understand demographic trends such as age, household size, income, education level, gender and marital status.

Snapshot of Today’s Food Bank Donors

In the dashboard below, you can see what the average food bank donors look like today.

For starters, 57% of food bank donors are married—a slightly higher percentage compared to animal welfare donors. These food bank donors are also 57% women—quite the opposite compared to the average rescue mission donor.

More than half of food bank donors (52%) have completed college. This percentage is higher than both animal welfare donors (49%) and rescue mission donors (48%).

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

When we look at household size, we see that 61% of food bank donors live alone or with one other person. This household size likely correlates with the 85% of food bank donors who are age 50 or older.

Today’s Food Bank Donors Compared to 2013-14

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

The biggest difference is in age.

In 2013-14, more than half of food bank donors (53%) were age 70 or older, another 35% ranged from age 50 to 69, and only 12% were under age 50.

In 2020-21, only 39% of food bank donors are age 70 or older, while another 39% are ages 50-69. The remaining 22% of food bank donors today are under age 50—nearly double what we see from just seven years earlier.

Unsurprisingly, this shift has been driven by the influx of new donors during the pandemic. The chart above compares core donors (those who have been with food banks for two or more years) to new donors acquired in 2020-21.

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

• 50% ages 70 or older
• 38% ages 50-69
• 12% under age 50

The new donor group, however, is quite different:

• 30% ages 70 or older
• 41% ages 50-69
• 29% under age 50

As the average age of food bank donor files has decreased, the average income has crept up.

In 2013-14, the breakdown looked like this:

• 33.7% at $150,000 or more
• 42.8% at $75,000 to $149,999
• 23.5% at under $75,000

By 2020-21, the proportion of income shifted up to higher levels:

• 37.8% at $150,000 or more
• 41.2% at $75,000 to $149,999
• 21.0% at under $75,000

When we put it all together, we see that donor value skyrocketed during the pandemic, particularly among donors under age 40. And donors over age 75 have the lowest donor value in 2021.

The donor values declined slightly in 2021, but still remain elevated well above 2019 levels. This spike-and-decline trend is not seen among animal welfare or rescue mission donors.

Donors at Different-Sized Food Banks

We’ve seen how this shift toward younger donors looks across the entire food bank landscape, but how does this look depending on the size of the food bank?

The chart above shows that the larger the food bank, the younger its donors tend to be. First, look at the breakdown of donors 70 or older across the different sizes:

• 54% at Emerging (under 2,000 active donors)
• 46% at Small (2,000-4,999)
• 45% at Mid (5,000-9,999)
• 35% at Large (10,000+)

For those age 50-69, we see an increase as the food bank gets larger:

• 35% at Emerging
• 38% at Small
• 39% at Mid
• 41% at Large

For those under age 50, we see a similar increase as the food bank grows:

• 11% at Emerging
• 15% at Small
• 16% at Mid
• 24% at Large

The average household size also increases slightly with the size of the food bank. Here’s a breakdown of households with 2 or fewer people:

• 66% at Emerging
• 64% at Small
• 64% at Mid
• 61% at Large

Households with 3 or 4 people:

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

And households with 5 or more people:

• 11% at Emerging
• 14% at Small
• 13% at Mid
• 16% at Large

Another trend that stands out: the bigger the food bank, the bigger the average household income.

Donors with income under $50,000:

• 31% at Emerging
• 28% at Small
• 22% at Mid
• 14% at Large

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

• 56% at Emerging
• 58% at Small
• 59% at Mid
• 58% at Large

Donors with income of $150,000 or more:

• 13% at Emerging
• 14% at Small
• 19% at Mid
• 28% at Large

And finally, larger food banks have a higher proportion of well-educated donors.

Donors who have not completed college:

• 58% at Emerging
• 56% at Small
• 50% at Mid
• 45% at Large

Donors who have completed college:

• 29% at Emerging
• 29% at Small
• 32% at Mid
• 35% at Large

Donors who have completed graduate school:

• 13% at Emerging
• 15% at Small
• 18% at Mid
• 20% at Large

All in all, today’s food bank donors are younger and have more income than just seven years ago, especially at larger food banks. Successful organizations are taking the opportunity now to invest in digital technology and build stronger mid-level programs to prepare for a sustainable future.