Five Fundraising Trends We Can’t Ignore in 2026
There’s no shortage of fundraising data right now.
A number of benchmarketing reports were released within the las couple of months. We’ve read them. You may have read them. They give us a clear view of what’s happening across organizations of different sizes, models, and strategies.
At first glance, the story looks positive. Revenue is up. Digital channels are still producing.
But when you look a little closer, the story gets more nuanced. Growth is happening. It’s just not happening evenly. And the number of donors is down. In other words, we’re getting more money, but from fewer people. If we were running a business, we might be concerned about revenue streams.
Nonprofits are, after all, businesses. By understanding distinctions seen in recent studies, we can build something sustainable.
Two of our favorite studies are the Virtuous 2026 Nonprofit Benchmark Report and the M+R 2026 Benchmarks Study.
This month, we’re sharing our take on 10 trends and what they may mean for your work.
Here are the first five; we’ll share the other five in our next post.
1. More money, fewer donors
Across the board, it’s clear that donors are giving more, but there are fewer of them. Online revenue increased by 15% in 2025, driven mostly by crisis-related giving. Overall retention is low (54%) and first-time donors are barely returning.
That’s what creates a scenario where revenue looks strong. That’s a short-term win. The loss lurking in the shadows is a donor base quietly eroding.
With fewer donors and low retention, consider: Are you building on a stable foundation, or are you benefiting from a moment? Are you capturing donors’ hearts by telling them the impact of their gifts and stewarding them beyond the crisis?
2. Crisis donors are not sticking around
For years, the narrative has been that monthly giving is the path to sustainability. And that still holds. Recurring donors are significantly more loyal, and for many organizations, they represent a meaningful part of overall revenue. But in 2025, something changed. One-time giving grew faster than monthly giving for the first time in years.
Again, it was crisis moments that drove immediate response. Good news: organizations captured hearts. That creates an opportunity for what happens next. Organizations that convert those one-time donors into ongoing supporters will retain momentum. If not, they’ll feel the impact next year. As a reminder, at FourPoints, with thoughtful programs, we see those first-time donors typically returning around the 30-35% rate.
3. New donors are not loving us back
For years, it’s held that only about one in four new donors returns for a second gift. These benchmarks are tracking below that 25% level. That’s a real concern. There’s also a critical window of opportunity. Generally, it’s best if the average time between first and second is less than three months. Ironically, that’s also the window of time where most organizations lose the relationship. In these cases, the issue is not acquisition. It’s what happens after the first gift is made. Who is personally reaching out to donors? What systems are in place to ensure they don’t fall through the cracks? That’s why we build unassigned thank you policies for all of our clients.
4. Email personalization drives results
Email continues to perform. Revenue from email increased 16% in 2025, and the amount raised per donor grew significantly. This isn’t because organizations are sending more messages. It’s because they are sending more relevant ones. Segmentation and personalization are driving results. The takeaway is not to increase volume. It’s to increase relevance.
5. DAFs are on the rise
Donor-advised funds are accelerating in a way that cannot be ignored. DAF revenue grew 44%. Average gifts far exceeded standard contributions. These are not new donors. These are existing supporters giving through a different vehicle. We have to make DAF giving easy and actively engage these donors. Systems also need to be set up to accurately track and attribute these gifts to the donors.
There are five more trends that we want to discuss; read our next post for more.
Overall, the fundamentals still hold: you need the right people using the right systems and tools to tell donors the stories of the impact they make toward your mission.