With new trends emerging every year, the nonprofit world is constantly changing. To ensure that your organization can continue to work toward its mission, pay particular attention to new developments, especially those related to fundraising. Still, it can be challenging to determine what information you need to keep an eye on and how you can change your processes to meet new demands.
In this guide, we’ll cover the top fundraising trends to watch in 2024. By adjusting your nonprofit’s strategy based on these trends, you’ll secure revenue and engage donors despite shifts in the industry. Let’s dive in!
1. Focus on Donor Trust
Worldwide, people are becoming more inclined to distrust organizations until they see evidence to the contrary. According to the Edelman Public Trust Barometer, businesses are the most trusted institutions, with 62% public trust. Nonprofits have fallen behind to 59%, but this number has declined for several years.
Trust is the main currency of the nonprofit industry—your supporters and donors must believe that your organization can create the impact you promise. Work to gain their trust through these best practices:
Protect sensitive donor data. Show donors that you take their data seriously by using reliable software, restricting access to only individuals who need that information, and regularly updating and patching your systems. Donors will feel more comfortable donating once they see you’re committed to securing their personal information.
Communicate your impact. Measure your impact, and provide this information to your nonprofit’s donors and supporters. Let them know how individuals and families are better off as a result of your interventions. Today’s donors are looking to invest in organizations who can demonstrate their impact and show they can use the funding to drive measurable change in areas aligned with the funder’s mission.Â
Partner with like-minded organizations. Demonstrate your dedication to your cause by partnering with organizations that share your vision. Are they interested in educational outcomes? Or are they focused on increasing income stability for single mothers? Before you invest precious time creating a proposal, look at the funder’s website and answer the following questions:
What is the funder’s stated mission?
Do they have strategic focus areas?
What causes have they invested in previously?.
Consider sending a survey or questionnaire to your existing supporters to ask how you can improve your attempts to be transparent and build trust. Ask them if there’s any area about your nonprofit they’d like more information on and work to provide that context.
2. AI Fundraising
With over 10 million nonprofits and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) worldwide, your organization must work hard to secure your audience’s interest and gifts. Leveraging AI can help your organization stand out, as 87% of company leaders believe AI allows them to obtain and sustain a competitive edge.
Content generation
Predictive analytics
Prospect identification and development
Next action recommendations
Donor journey mapping
Constituent perception tracking
While AI fundraising may give your nonprofit a leg up on strategic thinking and success, keep in mind that you’ll need to address ethical considerations to maintain trust with your supporters. These include privacy, data security, and DEI concerns. In particular, be sure to get your donors’ consent before you input their information into an AI tool, as some individuals won’t feel comfortable with their data used that way.
3. Digital Donations
It’s not enough to just host a variety of unique fundraising events. You should also enable donors to give outside of set occasions by accepting digital donations. After all, 63% of donors prefer to give online with a credit or debit card, compared to only 16% who choose to donate through direct mail and 4% who prefer cash.
Make digital giving a streamlined and pleasant process by:
Choosing a robust payment processor. The right processor will allow donors to make a gift through various methods, including credit card, debit card, ACH, and eCheck. The processor should also integrate directly with your website so supporters don’t have to navigate elsewhere to make a gift.
Setting up a dedicated donation page. If your nonprofit doesn’t already have a donation or giving page on its website, take the time to set one up. On this page, reiterate your cause and how donors will aid your mission by donating. Make sure that this page is mobile-optimized so donors can make a gift regardless of their device.
Adding donation impact labels. Add recommended gift amounts and impact labels for each option to show donors the concrete results of their donations. For instance, if you’re a nonprofit supporting education in underserved communities, explain that a $50 donation allows you to increase education stability for a single student for a year. That way, donors know exactly how their gift supports your beneficiaries.
Sending automated gift receipts. Set up your digital donation system to automatically send a gift receipt email after a supporter makes a digital donation. This will ensure they have the receipt for their records and can use it to write off their contribution during tax season. Take this opportunity to also thank the donor for their support.
Don’t forget to inform supporters that your nonprofit now accepts digital gifts. Promote this new opportunity to aid your nonprofit’s mission through all your marketing channels, such as by adding call-to-action buttons on your website, sending a dedicated email newsletter, and uploading social media announcements.
4. Giving Flexibility
To increase the impact of your philanthropy, you need to increase the flexibility of your fundraising. That means accepting various forms of financial donations, including:
Matching gifts. According to 360MatchPro, matching gifts are a type of corporate philanthropy where companies match donations their employees make to eligible nonprofits. For example, if a donor gives $50 and requests a matching gift from their employer, the employer will also contribute $50. To encourage this donation, inform your donors about matching gift opportunities and consider creating a dedicated matching gift page.
Recurring donations. Recurring donations allow your nonprofit to secure a sustainable, predictable revenue stream to power your mission. With 75% of donors’ finances negatively impacted by inflation, regular but affordable contributions have become more popular in recent years. To make this option even more appealing, Funds2Orgs recommends providing special perks to recurring donors, such as free event access or branded merchandise, which will also increase engagement.
Grants from donor-advised funds. With donor-advised funds (DAFs), donors contribute money to an investment fund managed by a sponsoring organization. Then, donors recommend that grants be made to certain charities from the fund. This form of giving has become extremely popular recently, with grants from DAFs increasing 9% to $52.16 billion in 2022.
While it may not be feasible for your nonprofit to accept every new form of giving, keep an open mind—you may be missing out on key support that you could easily obtain. For instance, if your nonprofit has many donors who are young adults between the ages of 25 and 35, you may consider accepting cryptocurrency donations, as this is the most common age group for cryptocurrency users.
In a quickly changing world, stay aware of new strategies you can implement to ensure your nonprofit doesn’t get left behind. With these top fundraising trends, you’ll be well on your way to securing a sustainable future for your organization, ensuring you have the funds to support your beneficiaries even in your industry’s changing landscape.
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