There are plenty of statistics available about list performance in DemocracyInAction and similar tools. One of the most common questions about them is: how do we know if the numbers are good or bad? Is my open rate typical for the sector? Unusually high? Shockingly low?

It's a hard question to answer in the abstract for a couple of reasons. First, these sorts of numbers are highly variable with the type of organization (or the type of messaging). Local lists, for instance -- or messages by a national organization referencing a local issue -- perform much better than national lists. Second, the space is so fast-moving that industry-wide numbers have very short half-lives.

So, get it while it's hot: M&R Strategic Services and the Advocacy Institute have just issued an e-Benchmarks Study. Check it now, because it'll be dated by spring training. Or maybe not that soon. But certainly by pennant races.

Bear in mind that the first complication -- specific list dynamics -- still applies. Your results may vary. That, of course, is the point.

Excerpted from the release message:

Some key findings:

• More Donations Online:
  Nonprofits raised 40% more money online in 2005 than in 2004,
  likely driven in part by the surge in online giving after the
  cataclysmic Asian tsunami.
• Email Overload: The rates
  at which online constituents open emails declined from 30% in
  2003-2004 to 26% in 2004-2005, likely as a result of supporters
  becoming overwhelmed by emails.
• Budgets Matter: Nonprofits
  with larger online budgets had better online programs, building
  larger email lists, generating more online activism, and raising
  more money online.
• Email Lists Growing: On
  average, the 15 nonprofits studied more than doubled the size of
  their existing email lists in a 12-month period.
• Bad Email Addresses:
  Despite this growth, over a quarter of all email addresses on
  nonprofit email lists "go bad" each year, making it hard for
  organizations to keep up with "list churn".
• Activism More Popular Than
  Donations: Not surprisingly, more email subscribers
  took action online than made a donation online — 47% vs.
  6%.