Hospice Health Report 2024: Helping hospices work towards success and sustainability

The report, a crucial tool in supporting strategic planning in hospices, is a comprehensive study of the sector's fundraising KPIs since 2017.

The report underscores the urgent need for hospices to address the challenges posed by the current cost-of-living crisis. It strongly recommends that hospices embrace innovation, particularly the use of technology, in their operations and donor relations to ensure their sustainability.

In creating the report, Dreamscape Solutions analysed findings from the Fundraising Fitness Test service, which studied over 21 million donations totalling £1.6 billion. The findings show that hospices have experienced both wins and losses in the last five years. 

Since 2017, hospices have seen strong growth in the number of gifts received, but the value of these gifts continues to fall. 

While income from long-term supporters has increased by 12% since 2017, revenue from new first-time donors has decreased by 14.8% during the same period. 

In many cases, hospices increasingly rely on income from major corporate support, while general public fundraising is becoming more challenging to make profitable.

Find a summary of the report's findings and suggestions for change below.

• New donors continue to drive sector growth, but hospices must enhance post-donation stewardship experiences for this to remain stable and sustainable.
• Small donations from public fundraising are rising in volume, but their value decreases each year. Without operational reform, public fundraising is increasingly seen as a loss leader.
• 89% of donations processed by UK hospices are for small amounts (typically lower than £20) and only account for 8.5% of annual income.
• Hospices that experience revenue growth consistently achieve a 10% higher rate of donor retention than those that experience revenue stagnation or a deficit.
• Revenue yield from newly acquired donors has reduced by 15% since 2017.
• New donor retention rates continue to fall, with most hospices retaining fewer than 2 in 10 first-time donors in 2022.
• Hospices increasingly rely on income from long-term repeat donors and major/corporate support to make up the lion's share of revenue.
• Both donor acquisition and attrition rates remain at 60%, meaning the sector has seen little change in supporter numbers.

Bernard McCabe, Director of Dreamscape Solutions:

“Hospices have weathered the storm of the Covid-19 pandemic, but the hospice health report shows there are more challenges ahead. Many hospices are struggling with donor attrition - for every 100 donors gained, 100 are lost.

"With the cost of living crisis expected to keep affecting how much communities can give to hospices, it's vital that hospice fundraising teams tackle donor retention by developing knowledge, skills, and systems to consistently deliver stewardship experiences that meet the expectations of modern consumers.”