Getting Ready for End-of-Year Giving? Here’s What’s Working in Fundraising Right Now

If you've been concerned about fundraising challenges in 2025, you're not alone. Across the nonprofit sector, the number of individual donors continues to decline.

But there’s some hope on the horizon. After a period of stagnation in 2023, Giving Tuesday 2024 was a record-breaking success, with $3.6 billion donated in the U.S., a 16% increase over the previous year. More people participated than ever before (36.1 million donors).

As we prepare for Giving Tuesday 2025, here are some of the things that ARE working in fundraising right now:

1. Building Monthly Giving Programs

The organizations seeing the biggest gains in 2025 are those that are able to build sustainable recurring donor programs. Monthly giving now accounts for 31% of online revenue, and it grew by 5% in 2024, while one-time giving remained flat.

The appeal is clear: 94% of recurring donors say they prefer to give monthly. Monthly donors are typically more engaged and willing to supplement their regular gifts with additional one-time donations.

Try this:

• Incentivize “membership” by naming your monthly donor community and creating opportunities for them to get more involved in the work

• Emphasize the long-term impact of recurring donations in your messaging

• Use automation to maintain recurring gifts and reduce churn from expired credit cards

2. Expanding and Diversifying Your Audience

With donor retention rates declining, regularly bringing new supporters into your community is crucial.

Email remains the single largest source of online fundraising revenue for most nonprofits. Even if you’re not ready to invest in paid acquisition, you should always be thinking about how to grow your email subscriber list through lead magnets, social media campaigns, and website optimization.

Try this:

• Direct your social media followers to subscribe to your email program (we do this all the time because it works!)

• Implement re-engagement campaigns to bring lapsed donors back with personalized messaging and impact stories

3. Using AI for Personalization and Efficiency

More than half of nonprofits now use AI-enabled tools, and 92% believe AI can help drive donor engagement. If you choose to use AI, leverage it as a tool to create efficiency and give your team more time to build real, human relationships.

Even small organizations can leverage AI tools like ChatGPT to draft thank-you letters, appeals, and donor communications more quickly.

Try this:

• Use AI tools like Grammarly to provide basic copyediting of your appeals 

• Use the predictive analytics tools in your donor CRM to identify donors who might need some attention

• Automate routine tasks so your team can focus on building genuine relationships

4. Asking People to Pay It Forward

Building a culture of giving, rather than simply asking for donations, remains one of the most effective strategies for sustainable fundraising. One way to foster a culture of giving is to include a clear call to action at every touchpoint with your supporters.

If you hold free events, ask attendees to pay it forward by donating so you can put on the next event. If you offer resources, ask recipients to share your work with friends who might benefit. If you send regular emails (which you should!), every email should make it clear what you’re asking supporters to do.

Try this:

• Build a suggested donation ask into every resource, event, or service you offer

• Create opportunities for volunteers to fundraise on your behalf. Peer-to-peer fundraising works because it leverages supporters' networks to expand your reach, and because people are more likely to give when asked by someone they trust.

  
  

The Bottom Line

The fundraising landscape is evolving rapidly, but organizations that embrace these trends and tactics are seeing real results. The key is not to adopt every trend at once; instead, look at your data and your audience to determine which approaches align with what you know about your supporters and address your most pressing challenges.

Looking for ways to connect with your audience and build power? We can help. Schedule a free, no-risk strategy call with us to get started.

Photo by Joel Muniz on Unsplash