5 Fundraising Trends to Watch in 2025
Uncover the reasoning behind these five fundraising trends and learn how you can apply them to your fundraising strategy for more donations in 2025 – and beyond.
Lindsey Baker Bower
Uncover the reasoning behind these five fundraising trends and learn how you can apply them to your fundraising strategy for more donations in 2025 – and beyond.
Just like fashion, fundraising trends come and go. While you don’t have to follow every trend, constant innovation and experimentation are crucial for any fundraiser.
Ready to assess your fundraising wardrobe? Take a look at these trends and decide what’s staying and what’s going. Along the way, we’ll showcase what each trend means for your fundraising strategy.
Over the last few years, we’ve seen one common thread: individual giving is declining.
When adjusted for inflation, giving in 2023 declined by 2.4%. Fundraisers have been worried that individual giving will only grow less reliable. However, we’re seeing some reasons to remain optimistic.
According to the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy’s 2024 and 2025 Outlook Report, individual giving is projected to grow by 3.4% in 2025.
With inflation predicted to slow down in 2025, this means that individual giving may remain steady or even grow in the coming year.
We’re not out of the woods yet. In 2025, making the most out of your existing and new individual donors will be critical.
Start by revamping or building up your recurring giving program. Donors who give at recurring intervals are incredibly valuable, giving up to 42% more per year than one-time donors.
They’re also loyal, with a 78% retention rate – a significant increase from the industry standard of around 35%.
This means that the more focus you put on your recurring giving program, the more return you’ll see in 2025 and beyond.
Pro tip: Donorbox makes recurring giving easy for you and your donors. Simply choose your preferred donation intervals to showcase on your donation form. Donors can log in to their Donor Portal to make changes to their recurring plan at any time. First Responders Children’s Foundation includes a monthly giving option on their donation form, which they have marked as the preferred interval.
Build Your Recurring Donation Form
Do you know which key metrics you need to track as a fundraiser? Your average ROI per donor, or the conversion rate for your latest campaign?
We live in a world that’s fueled by data. We have more access to analytics tools and tracking than ever – and if you aren’t focusing on data-driven fundraising in 2025, you could be missing out on some key ways to grow your nonprofit.
A study conducted by McKinsey looking at for-profit businesses found that those with a data-driven approach outperformed their competitors by up to 20%.
Focusing on data gives you a competitive edge through better decision-making, more efficient fundraising processes, and a better understanding of your donors.
The time to become more data-savvy is yesterday. But it’s not too late! First, you need to level up your data tools so you have access to any information you need.
Next, you need a way to apply your learnings from all this new data. This will require buy-in from your staff, board, volunteers, and more.
Cultivate a culture focused on data by regularly reevaluating your strategies and processes with any new information. Try setting up quarterly meetings with key stakeholders to review your progress and discuss any changes you’d like to make.
With some powerful tools and a little elbow grease, your fundraising can grow more data-driven in 2025.
Hearing that 89% of nonprofits believe that digital communications are “critical” to supporting their mission is no big surprise. For years, we’ve seen how nonprofits have stepped up to the plate and launched blogs, email campaigns, and social media posts that have driven some serious donations. This is more than just a fundraising trend – it’s a mainstay.
2025 will be no different in terms of how important this type of communication remains. However, there is one big difference: the tools available to help.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has increased our ability to generate engaging content and streamline our processes.
In fact, 92% of nonprofits believe that AI can help them drive engagement with end users – meaning these tools might be a fundraiser’s new best friend.
2025 will be all about finding efficient, effective ways to engage your donors virtually. But it’s important to remember that donors are still craving authenticity – meaning you can’t completely erase the human element of your fundraising (nor should you!).
Invest in tools that help you personalize your outreach and leverage AI responsibly, like the following:
Additionally, lean into automation wherever possible to maximize your engagement potential. For example, Donorbox CRM’s Moments feature automates outreach for specific donor milestones like birthdays, first donations, anniversaries of donations, and more.
Stay connected with donors and drive that all-important engagement with a strong toolkit.
The Great Wealth Transfer is in full swing. Trillions of dollars are changing hands as Baby Boomers pass away and leave their estates to their children and beloved charities.
Once predicted to be around $84 trillion, due to growing wealth experts predict the Great Wealth Transfer will be closer to $124 trillion over the next 23 years. $18 trillion of that is expected to flow directly to nonprofits.
The remaining $106 trillion bequeathed to heirs will also be important for nonprofits to note. There are about to be more wealthy people, meaning more potential major donors.
2048 seems like a long way away, but it’s important to remember that the Great Wealth transfer is ongoing – and nonprofits are already benefitting from it.
If you still don’t have a planned giving program, you need to get on it ASAP. This type of fundraising focuses on building relationships with donors now so they’ll consider leaving assets to your organization later. It’s a way for you to capitalize on donor loyalty while receiving larger gifts.
Planned gifts are often treated as welcome surprises instead of an integral part of your contributed income. Although you can’t always budget for a specific amount of planned gifts each year, you still need to dedicate resources to growing your planned giving program for future success.
You should also think about the other side of the Wealth Transfer coin – the younger heirs who now have the wealth to fund charities they’re passionate about. In practice, this looks like cultivating relationships with younger Millennial and Gen Z donors through targeted programming and personalized communication. It also looks like accepting alternative currencies and stock donations, which younger donors are interested in giving.
Don’t put it off for another year. Prioritize planned giving and targeted outreach now so you don’t miss out on this monumental wealth transfer.
This fundraising trend is all about leveraging partnerships with corporations, but it’s important to be realistic about the future of corporate giving.
According to the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy’s report, corporate giving is expected to grow by only 2.6% in 2025 – which is below the historical average growth rate for the last 40 years.
Ultimately, this is still growth, it’s just slightly slower than the breakneck speeds at which corporate giving has been growing in previous years. But there is one area of growth your nonprofit can’t afford to ignore: Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs.
A recent study found that of Fortune 500 and S&P 500 companies, 80% issue a CSR report. CSR programs are no longer a nice-to-have for these large companies – they’re necessary.
Say it with me: 2025 is the year to build strong corporate partnerships.
Spend some time this year pulling together proposals to partner with companies in your city or beyond who have shown an interest in causes similar to yours – and even those who haven’t yet.
Corporate partnerships come in all kinds of models, from event sponsorships to grants and even workplace giving programs so you can find what works best for you.
Beyond these partnerships, matching gifts are an easy way for you to profit from corporate generosity. 65% of Fortune 500 companies offer matching gift programs these days. Chances are your donors can double their impact by seeing if their employer matches gifts.
Pro tip: Donorbox integrates with Double the Donation so donors can submit their matching gift information right on your donation form to receive a follow-up communication about how to submit their matching gift. Learn more.
Fundraising trends are usually a bit easier to track than fashion trends. While we will never fully understand why skinny jeans went out and low-rise jeans came back, when it comes to fundraising there are clear reasons for each trend.
So far, the 2020s have presented some unique challenges for nonprofits. 2025 offers a few additional challenges, but also some exciting opportunities to build up toolboxes, grow as fundraisers, and focus on those all-important missions.
Use these fundraising trends as a guidepost as you plan out your 2025 strategy. As always, Donorbox is here with comprehensive tools to help you raise more, build stronger donor relationships, and harness your data for better decision-making. Check out all of our features and sign up today!
Lindsey spent years wearing many hats in the nonprofit world. Whether she was helping arts nonprofits with their messaging and content, planning a fundraising gala, writing an NEA grant proposal, or running a membership program with over 400 members, she learned how to navigate – and appreciate! – the fast-paced world of fundraising. Now, she loves sharing those hard-earned lessons with the Donorbox community.
Subscribe to our e-newsletter to receive the latest blogs, news, and more in your inbox.
