Insiders’ guide to top fundraising trends to watch in 2025

fundraising trends

Faced with economic inflation, a polarizing political climate, and rising pressures on staff to do more with less, the most agile nonprofits and educational institutions are adapting to new donor expectations and aggressive fundraising goals amidst resource and budget constraints. To help you exceed goals despite mounting pressures and changes in donor behavior, we asked today’s top voices in philanthropy to weigh in on emerging trends, challenges and opportunities for the year ahead.

fundraising trends 2025

The hyper-personalized donor experience

When you buy something online, you expect a prompt confirmation that includes your name and purchase information. Donors are people, too, and they have the same expectations when contributing a gift to your organization. As digital communication from brands becomes the norm, fundraising organizations must create donor-centric, hyper-personalized journeys. 

To adapt to donor-centric fundraising, organizations should invest in AI and other technologies that automate donor segmentation and personalize outreach and focus on lifecycle mapping to cultivate deeper connections over time.

“The continued rise of personalized, donor-centric fundraising powered by AI and data analytics will be key in 2025. This shift will include hyper-personalized communication based on donor interests, behaviors, and giving histories.

Organizations that adopt these data-driven approaches will build stronger, more meaningful relationships with donors. However, nonprofits that fail to invest in technology to segment and engage donors effectively may struggle to maintain relevance and donor retention.”

Gayle Roberts, CFRM,

Fundraising for Change

Show impact, build trust

In a world saturated with competing messages – especially in digital spaces – donors need to feel a connection to the causes they give to. It’s a fact: 97% of donors cite the impact of their gift as their main reason for giving. With a rise in microdonations due to fundraising models like peer-to-peer fundraising, organizations are seeing higher numbers of lower level donors that expect to see as much or more impact reporting from their gift. 

In 2025, fundraising organizations should seek to understand their donors’ preferences regarding when, where and how they share impact, and put plans in place to meet donors where they are. “Trust will become one of the most important, if not the most important, barometers of success that we can measure our sector by,” says Tim Sarrantonio of Neon One. “Donors don’t want to hear about dollars raised but instead impact delivered, so shifting narratives away from short term goals and toward big picture thinking is what will help nonprofits stand out.”

“Younger donors want to own part of the impact — not just be a transactional vehicle to get it accomplished.”

Tasha Van Vlack,

The Nonprofit Hive

Digital & mobile-first interactions

Younger donors – primarily Gen Z and younger millennials – are digital natives. This means they expect and generally prefer a digital-first experience. Email, social media, texting and giving days/crowdfunding are the top channels alumni donors use to give to their alma mater, according to over 500 alumni surveyed in a Gravyty alumni trends report. Traditional channels like phone and direct mail were less likely to have prompted a gift. For organizations transforming to a digital-first approach, it can be hard to know where to start with new technology. The key steps will be to get organizational buy-in, evaluate based on specific needs and expectations, and develop an internal training and adoption plan.

“Board education is key. Many boards struggle to grasp the rapidly changing nature of donor behavior, especially across generations. Fundraising leaders need to advocate for the retirement of outdated approaches, like expensive galas, and push for investment in digital-first strategies like upgraded CRM systems and frictionless giving experiences. Board members must understand that the future lies in these digital investments, not traditional in-person events.”

Anne Murphy,

Empowered Fundraiser Consulting & Coaching

The community factor

A critical factor in inspiring donors to not only give but to remain loyal supporters long term is meaningful and authentic engagement. A thriving community, over time, leads to a deep trust and affinity for your organization. Over 93% of surveyed alumni who have donated to their alma mater engage with the institution via a virtual alumni community platform, highlighting the correlation between an engaged digital community and philanthropic habits.

“This relates to alumni communities where it’s important to increase legacy culture and decrease the sense of being remembered during fundraising only.”

Tim Lockie,

The Human Stack

Alumni engagement trends statistics

AI to amplify productivity

As AI matures, organizations are starting to understand the full potential of how it can streamline processes and enhance productivity. Fundraising is no exception. With the right AI tools, frontline fundraisers can leverage data-driven insights and predictive modeling to analyze your database, identify prospective donors, prioritize which donors to contact in which order and even draft donor outreach. 

“As AI becomes more sophisticated, nonprofits and educational institutions will be able to deliver hyper-personalized experiences. Instead of generic outreach, AI can segment donors into highly specific categories based on their interests, engagement, and emotional response (gleaned from sentiment analysis). This leads to more meaningful and timely touchpoints, fostering a deeper connection between donors and the cause they support.”

Josh Hirsch,

The Fund Raising School at Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy

How will these capabilities impact fundraising teams as we look ahead to the future? When properly trained on the technology, AI can add immense value and improve outcomes: “With structured training, fundraisers can utilize AI to improve donor engagement,” says Anne Murphy, Founder and CEO of Empowered Fundraiser Consulting. “They can identify opportunities that are better aligned with donors’ interests, create more persuasive content, and strengthen their collaborations. AI will also help manage large portfolios, reducing overwhelm and increasing the capacity for strategic outreach.”

For AI adoption, planning is everything

While AI innovations carry the potential of exciting growth for fundraising organizations, leaders must be diligent about planning ahead and prioritizing internal training and buy-in before implementing a new AI-powered technology. In looking ahead to 2025, fundraising teams should leverage AI as a tool to improve and up-skill versus replace any specific function. Organizations like Fundraising AI stress the importance of using AI ethically, responsibly and inclusively to maximize the positive impact on communities and causes. 

“Fundraisers will start using tools like ChatGPT discreetly, especially in organizations that restrict their use. This informal adoption will yield some productivity gains, but without proper training, it will remain limited.

With structured training, however, fundraisers can utilize AI to improve donor engagement. With the pace of change being as rapid as it is across all aspects of our industry, every nonprofit should have a plan for their AI adoption roadmap: assessment of AI benefits and risks, AI upskilling for all, AI council, and AI governance.“

Anne Murphy

Next-gen generosity

Knowing who makes up your donor base is essential for crafting the right strategy to reach them and keep them engaged. The newest generations of donors – Millennials and Gen Z – open up new challenges and opportunities for fundraising organizations. Perhaps surprisingly, Gen Z donors might be the most generous base of supporters for nonprofits to date, leading the pack in giving frequency, donating an average of 11.4 times within 12 months. They are also considered digital natives, raised in a world of smartphones and social media. 

“Gen Z and Millennials prioritize social impact, diversity, and transparency in their giving. They are more likely to give through digital platforms, expect instant acknowledgment of their contributions, and want to feel connected to the cause they support.

However, despite their digital fluency, there is growing evidence that they might appreciate receiving physical mail as a novelty, given that snail mail has been largely absent from their communication habits.”

Sabrina Walker Hernandez

Supporting World Hope

In 2025 and beyond, the shift from traditional donor engagement methods to digital and mobile-first strategies will be critical. “Younger donors don’t give out of loyalty but rather through personal connection and shared values,” says Anne Murphy.

“Expect large events like galas to fade in relevance as organizations focus on more authentic, impactful experiences. Digital transparency, mission-driven storytelling, and community involvement will resonate with younger generations far more than legacy approaches.”

Social fundraising is here to stay

Social fundraising – a form of philanthropy that encourages supporters to create their own fundraising campaigns to raise money on behalf of a cause or organization – is undoubtedly on the rise moving into 2025, namely with younger generations of donors. In the years following the pandemic, peer-to-peer fundraising programs in the nonprofit sector saw growth, reaching $1.1 billion in collective revenue in 2023. 

“Crowdfunding, peer-to-peer fundraising, and micro-donations will continue to grow in importance. These models align with the desire for community-driven, grassroots support, especially among younger generations who favor small, frequent contributions over larger, occasional gifts.”

Sabrina Walker Hernandez

Supporting World Hope

Social fundraising, sometimes known as community-driven fundraising or peer fundraising, relies on not only donations themselves but also the power of their supporters’ networks to spread the word and advocate for their cause. 

Fundraising trends for success in 2025

As we step into 2025, fundraisers will be faced with new challenges—economic uncertainty, global and environmental turmoil and evolving donor preferences will force teams to make changes to long standing processes and face tough realities. But on the flip side, 2025 will present plentiful opportunities to make an impact through exciting new trends and technologies that foster community, build authentic relationships, and do more good.

For more insights like these and to see the full trends perspectus, download Fundraising trends to watch in 2025.

More Posts