3 Donor Behavior Trends + Financial Impact on Nonprofits

Donor behaviors and expectations are always shifting, driven by evolving values, fundraising technology innovation, changing economic pressures, and various other factors. For nonprofit leaders, understanding these changes is critical for ensuring sustained revenue and impact.

Unpredictable giving patterns can leave nonprofits scrambling to secure reliable funding streams and develop manageable budgets without clear direction. Nonprofit leaders who evaluate and monitor donor behaviors are better equipped to keep fundraising costs low and returns high in any circumstances, maximizing the amount they can raise for their mission-critical work.

This article explores donor behavior trends and their implications for financial health, offering strategic insights to help nonprofits build more resilient funding models.

1. Rebalancing Generational Giving Patterns

Relying too heavily on a single donor segment or revenue source leaves nonprofit financial situations vulnerable to shifting donor behavior trends. For example, a preference for volunteerism over financial support among millennials can disrupt cash flow for nonprofits that depend on this group for participation in online fundraising campaigns.

Instead, understanding the nuances in generational giving patterns allows nonprofits to build a balanced fundraising portfolio. Here is what research shows about generational donor behavior trends:

• Baby Boomers (born from 1946 to 1964) give nearly 43% of all philanthropic dollars, outpacing every other generation. They embrace strategic giving habits, including donor-advised funds, planned giving, and capital campaign contributions.
• Generation X (born from 1965 to 1980) values flexibility, supporting an average of four charities each year. This generation gives not only monetarily (i.e., grants, long-term pledges, etc.) but also leads in giving in-kind donations, primarily through formal volunteering. 
• Millennials (born from 1981 to 1996) hold unique giving potential due to an expected transfer of $68‑$84 trillion in wealth to members of this generation. These individuals are digital-first donors, leaning heavily into online donation pages and communication channels.

While generational patterns and other demographic trends are strong indicators of donor behaviors with significant financial impact, you should also consider the unique characteristics of your specific supporters. Use your existing donor data to uncover giving and engagement preferences that can guide your messaging and fundraising strategy.

2. Trust and Ethics in the Age of AI

Artificial intelligence (AI) is making waves in nonprofit fundraising—and it isn’t going away. From prospect research to donor communications, this emerging technology has vast applications for identifying, appealing to, and even retaining supporters.

Along with the emergence of AI fundraising tools comes new donor expectations for their use. Surveys about nonprofit AI perceptions show that 60% of donors are concerned about privacy and data security, and 25% admit that AI implementation could affect their giving behavior, depending on how it’s used. 

The rise of AI has contributed to donors’ cautious engagement, which holds the following financial implications for nonprofits:

• Conditional engagement: Donors might scale back or redirect their support if your nonprofit’s AI use seems unethical, requiring your team to develop new engagement tactics to regain their support. On the other hand, donors could feel impressed by the way AI has enhanced your nonprofit’s outreach, and so it could deepen their involvement.
• Potential changes in revenue: If enough donors reduce or pause their giving due to AI concerns, their cumulative restraint could negatively impact your organization’s fundraising revenue. However, those donors who become more involved as a result of your AI approach could also become more generous.
• Increased operational costs: Your efforts to calm donors’ AI concerns might require additional expenses, such as strengthening your data security systems, training staff to leverage AI responsibly, and creating AI-focused communication materials. These expenses, on top of the costs associated with actually acquiring AI-powered software and integrating it with your existing tech stack, can significantly increase your operational costs.

While nonprofits should take a cautious approach to AI implementation, this technology doesn’t necessarily produce negative financial outcomes. As Insightful Philanthropy’s article on AI fundraising explains, “AI holds significant potential to improve donor cultivation and fundraising efficiency.” The key is using AI responsibly and transparently addressing donors’ concerns.

3. Expectation for Transparency

In a recent study, nonprofits that prioritize transparency saw a 62% increase in contributions from their supporters, making it clear that today’s donors want to know where their dollars go and what they achieve. However, 81% of donors have concerns about the impact of their donations, demonstrating an increasing need to steer away from vague appeals and generic mission statements.

Instead, donors are demanding transparency from the organizations they support, which may involve sharing:

• Financial statements: As Chazin explains, nonprofit financial statements serve as beacons of fiscal responsibility that instill trust in donors and grantors. These documents detail your nonprofit’s financial activities, reinforcing your organization’s credibility. Making these statements available in your annual report and other donor-facing resources can highlight your nonprofit’s commitment to transparency.
• Third-party recognitions: When external sources cite your organization as accountable and trustworthy, donors become more confident that they’re contributing to a legitimate cause. Displaying official badges and awards, such as Candid’s Seals of Transparency, on your website can also attract newcomers to your mission and improve your organization’s overall reputation.
• Impact reports: Detailed impact reports translate your nonprofit’s financial data and program activities into compelling narratives that resonate with donors. These reports help bridge the gap between your nonprofit’s budget line items and the changes your organization drives for its beneficiaries.

Professional intervention is an crucialinherent consideration in nonprofit transparency because trustworthiness is often confirmed by external evidence. For example, online reviews, professional evaluations, and highly esteemed accreditations signal credibility beyond self-reported qualifications.

This is especially true of nonprofit transparency, which is why it’s essential to look into professional support. Outsourced accounting can strengthen the validity of your nonprofit’s financial reporting, and collaborating with other organizations may help you ensure alignment with community needs.

Donor behavior is dynamic, and understanding its evolution is essential for long-term financial stability. With a thorough grasp of supporters’ priorities and expectations, your nonprofit can anticipate shifts in donor behaviors and plan an approach that maintains their engagement.

5 Psychology Tricks to Enhance Your Donation Appeals

Even the best, most well-planned fundraising campaign can fall flat if it doesn’t strike the right emotional chord. You might have beautiful branding, compelling copy, and a well-timed launch, but if your audience doesn’t feel something—urgency, connection, pride, hope—they’re unlikely to make the leap from passive supporter to active donor.

Whether you’re launching a year-end campaign, hosting a themed fundraising auction, or rallying supporters during a pivotal moment in policy change, understanding the psychology behind giving can help your message resonate. People give not only because they believe in a cause but also because of the way you present that cause, which resonates with their emotions. 

This guide will explore five psychology-driven tactics that nonprofits can use to make their donation appeals more effective by connecting authentically with donors, inspiring them to act, and building long-term loyalty. 

1. Leverage the Power of Social Proof

Humans are innately social creatures. When we see others taking action, we instinctively assume it’s the “right” thing to do and are more likely to follow suit. This idea, known as social proof, is one reason peer-to-peer fundraising can be so effective. 

To put this into practice, try:

• Highlighting widespread support. This can help create a subtle sense of belonging, urgency, and a “bandwagon effect” that encourages new supporters to join the movement.

• Showing donor activity in real time. Feature names and/or locations of recent donors on campaign pages, or add a rolling ticker showing progress to amplify momentum. This can be especially useful for live events, auctions, or corporate fundraising campaigns.
• Using testimonials strategically. Share short quotes from donors explaining why they give to inspire others to do the same across emails, mailers, social media, or event signage.

Social proof works best when it’s authentic, not staged. Showcase genuine stories and real numbers so potential donors feel like they’re joining an active community.

2. Create a Sense of Belonging

Donating to a cause is more than just a financial transaction; it’s an expression of a person’s beliefs. As such, people are more likely to give when they feel connected to your mission and the community around it. This is especially true for advocacy groups, grassroots organizations, and rights-based nonprofits, where shared values and solidarity are central to the cause.

Here are ideas to build a sense of belonging:

• • Use inclusive language. Your appeals should use words like “we” and “together” to help donors see themselves are part of the team and mission.
  • Segment appeals. Use your data on donor demographics or interest areas to tailor messages to speak directly to those identities. For example, environmental nonprofits might use different messaging for young climate activists and long-time conservationists. 
• Strengthen the connection post-donation. Don’t let the donor experience end with a translation. Send a personalized thank-you note, share impact updates, and invite them to join community events. 

When donors feel like they’re part of something bigger than just assisting an organization, their commitment and belonging to the cause deepen. 

3. Use the Rule of Reciprocity

One of the simplest, but more powerful, psychological principles in fundraising is reciprocity, or when someone receives something, they feel inclined to give back. The key is to offer the volunteer or donor value upfront—genuinely and in alignment with your mission—so the act of giving feels less transactional. Get started with these ideas:

• Offer something useful before making an ask. This could be a downloadable resource, impact report, video, or personal note from a staff member. These small things can make a big impression.

• Offer behind-the-scenes access. Invite donors to tour your office or facility, meet beneficiaries, or attend a Q&A session with nonprofit leaders. These experiences build trust and help deepen investment. 

• Host appreciation events. A casual thank-you gathering, a donor-exclusive webinar, a round of golf, or a simple coffee meetup can foster a great deal of goodwill. 
• Include a thoughtful follow-up gift. Personalized thank-you videos, cause-themed keepsakes, photos of impact, or an event-specific gift can provide a lasting positive impression of your organization. 

Reciprocity typically works well because it shifts the donor’s mindset from being asked to do something to responding to a gesture.

4. Keep it Simple

For most people, the easier something is to understand, the more trustworthy, genuine, and appealing it seems. The same is true for donation appeals, where complexity is the enemy of action. Overcomplicated messages or crowded visuals can make people hesitate, or worse, navigate away completely. 

Streamline your appeals by:

• Using plain language. Avoid jargon or overly technical terms. If a 10-year-old wouldn’t understand it, rewrite it. 

• Limiting choices. While it can be tempting to offer a dozen (or more) giving levels on forms and donation pages, too many options can overwhelm potential donors. A simple set of three to five tiers, with a “custom amount” option, often converts better. 

• Using simple design. Use white space in your layouts so key information stands out. Avoid overwhelming visuals and graphics and competing calls-to-action.

• Making accessibility a priority. Ensure your website and donation forms meet accessibility best practices, including clear navigation, legible fonts, and alt text for images. 

5. Let AI Help You A/B Test Faster

Use AI tools to help you analyze donor behavior patterns and quickly identify which messaging, visuals, and formats are most effective and will best resonate with your audience. This means you can iterate and optimize faster, which is crucial during time-sensitive campaigns. 

Here’s how you can put AI to work in your donation appeals:

• • Test subject lines. AI can generate and evaluate multiple subject line options, then suggest the one most likely to earn opens based on historical performance. 

• Experiment with urgency and benefit framing. See which version, “Donate by midnight to double your impact” or “Your gift today helps feed 50 families,” drives more clicks and conversions. 

• Personalize content for audience segments. Use AI to help match the right message to the right donor segment, predicting how they’ll respond to psychological triggers.
• Analyze visuals. Some AI tools can identify which colors, layouts, or images will perform best for your audience. Just be sure they fit in with your nonprofit’s branding.

It’s important to note that AI isn’t perfect. It can make errors or generate suggestions that don’t match your nonprofit’s tone or brand. Always review its work to ensure your final messages reflect your nonprofit’s authentic voice and values. 

Conclusion 

Psychology-driven fundraising isn’t meant to trick people into giving; it’s designed to align your appeals with the ways humans think, feel, and make decisions. When you combine these principles with genuine storytelling and transparency, you can create campaigns that feel good for donors and make a real impact for your cause.

For nonprofits working in advocacy, equity, or civic change, this authenticity is non-negotiable. Donors are choosing to trust your nonprofit with their resources, time, and emotional investment. By understanding what motivates them and respecting that trust, you’ll build stronger relationships, inspire greater generosity, and move your mission forward.

4 Best Technology-Fueled Donor Retention Strategies

Most nonprofit professionals emphasize the importance of donor retention as a cost-saving measure, as acquiring a new donor costs more than retaining an old donor. However, donor retention is also a measure of your relationships with your supporters, the efficacy of your stewardship measures, the level of engagement in your communications, and how trustworthy donors find your nonprofit. Ultimately, all these factors result in more consistent revenue from individuals who feel strongly about supporting your cause.

Today, nonprofits have more tools than ever to build and maintain donor relationships, but many are deterred by unfamiliarity with these technologies and fail to use them to their full potential. Ensure your organization takes advantage of technology’s uses for boosting donor retention using these guiding tips:

Use nonprofit analytics to guide your strategy

Before you can adjust or change your donor retention strategy, you need to understand how well it’s working. The best way to do that is through nonprofit analytics, which has three main facets:

• Data collection: Acquire donor data from surveys, registration forms, and other technology solutions. While smaller nonprofits can get away with storing their data in less robust systems, as your organization grows, you’ll need to use a dedicated nonprofit constituent relationship management (CRM) system, like Blackbaud or Salesforce, or a data warehouse.

• Data management: For your data to be helpful, it has to be organized and regularly cleaned. That means conducting audits of your data to ensure that it is relevant, accurate, and complete. In particular, identify duplicate or outdated data that you should remove.

• Data analysis: In this stage, you’ll identify patterns in your data and compare current performance to past metrics and future goals. This practice helps you gain valuable insights into donor retention.

Here’s an example of how nonprofit analytics can support your donor retention strategy: Imagine you’re a cross-partisan organization looking to build bridges across the political spectrum. You’re currently satisfied with your donor retention rate, but you worry that an upcoming election will change that. Rather than doing nothing or making vague guesses about how your donor retention will fluctuate, you can use predictive and prescriptive data analytics to determine how your donor retention rate might be affected and how you can minimize your retention loss by reaching out to at-risk donors.

If your organization isn’t ready to tackle nonprofit analytics alone, nonprofit consulting firms can help you execute an effective analytics strategy. The right consulting firm can assist you with technology, marketing, human resources management, and more, ensuring you set the right strategies that will improve your donor retention rates.

Thoughtfully integrate artificial intelligence (AI) 

AI can bolster your efforts to understand donor behaviors and make your communications more compelling to them. Here are some ways you can use AI to engage donors:

• Personalize communications. Use AI to sort donors into categories based on their history with your organization, interests, and engagement level for more targeted messaging. Donors are more likely to remain engaged with an organization that caters to their needs and recognizes their commitment.

• Use predictive analytics. AI tools can make predictive analysis easier by recognizing complex patterns, processing more information, and making specific recommendations. AI can recognize which donors might become major donors or recurring donors, which allows you to market more effectively to donors likely to take the next steps in supporting your cause.

• Answer questions in real time. Use AI chatbots on your website to build trust with your donors by answering FAQs about your mission, impact, and why donations matter. If donors have any hesitation about continuing their support for your organization, these tools can assuage concerns quickly and effectively, even when you don’t have staff members available to take questions.

Incorporating AI into your donor retention strategy can invigorate your existing efforts to connect with donors and anticipate their needs. Remember to use AI responsibly by setting down policies that ensure you implement these tools ethically and with human supervision.

Strengthen your communication using technology

Technological tools provide exciting opportunities to create a resilient community of supporters. Consistently communicating with donors even after they’ve made a donation shows you care and makes donors more likely to remain engaged with your organization.

Here are a few strategies you can use to support your messaging:

• Use multichannel communication. Many people use a myriad of communication channels in their everyday lives: email, social media, text, direct mail, and more. Omnichannel marketing campaigns create a seamless communication strategy that encompasses multiple channels, ensuring donors will have an easier time remembering your cause. Be sure to use your CRM to track individual donors’ preferred channels to communicate more effectively.

• Create engaging impact updates. Regular messages about your organization’s progress toward its goals are great, but you can take these communications to the next level by incorporating visually appealing elements, like photos, videos, and infographics. Donors want to see that their contributions are making a difference, so show them, don’t just tell them about it. For example, if you’re a human rights organization bringing supplies to people in need, include pictures of your supply stock or beneficiaries (with consent, of course) or videos of your staff describing the impact you’ve made.

• Practice stewardship. Donors are far more likely to return to organizations that show sincere appreciation for their contributions than organizations that let their generosity go unacknowledged or send a generic thank-you. Use donor data to address supporters by name in thank-you eCards or create donor walls that grab their attention and show you’re willing to go the extra mile to make them feel valued.

These communication methods don’t just remind supporters about your organization’s existence. They invite community members to be a part of your organization’s journey in meaningful ways by showing them the impact their support makes.

Simplify your donation process

A complicated giving process may dissuade one-time donors from returning to your organization the next time they want to make a donation. Use technology to ensure that supporters can make donations quickly and easily, such as by:

• Optimize your website design. Your donation page’s design should be aesthetically appealing and distinctive so that your donors remember it and want to return to it. Monitor bounce rate, conversion rate, and the amount of time people spend on your page to keep improving it as your organization grows.

• Make matching gifts easy. Matching gifts are one of the easiest ways for donors to increase their impact. If your donation site forces them to navigate away from your page in order to submit a request to their employer, they may not come back. Instead, use a matching gift software to facilitate the request yourself, taking the burden off your supporters.

• Create a mobile-friendly donation page. Many donors will want to access your site from their phones, so be sure your donation page easily reformats to fit different-sized screens, has easy-to-read fonts, intuitive navigation, and fast loading.

• Accept various payment methods. Don’t force your donors to search their wallets for the one card you’ll accept. Prioritize your donors’ needs by creating options for credit cards, ACH payments, and digital wallets.

• Send automatic donation receipts. Ease donors’ minds by informing them immediately after they make a donation that it has been received. This builds trust in your organization and helps create a positive first impression of your stewardship.

Simplifying donations doesn’t just increase conversion—it sends a message that your organization is thoughtful, efficient, and donor-centered, which will help you retain donors in the long run.

Donor retention allows your organization to sustain its momentum through any changes or challenges. With the right technology, you can improve your nonprofit’s results and cultivate relationships with supporters who are just as committed to your mission as you are. Start the search for the right tools today to ensure that your cause remains strong and well-supported by loyal donors for years to come.

Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Tips to Drive Results

How does your nonprofit connect with new donors? Do you post frequently on social media in hopes of catching people’s attention? Do you host community events to introduce locals to your mission? No matter how you spread the word, don’t forget that you don’t have to do it alone.

28% of donors rely on recommendations from friends and family to find new causes to support. By tapping into your existing donors and volunteers’ networks, you can reach more people who are likely to be passionate about your work.

Peer-to-peer fundraisers empower your most enthusiastic supporters to raise money for your organization. Whether you’re planning a virtual scavenger hunt event or a Read-A-Thon, follow these essential peer-to-peer fundraising tips to set participants up for success and secure lasting support.

Recruit Participants Strategically

Your peer-to-peer fundraising results depend on how well participants promote your cause to their friends and family. Because of this, you must recruit individuals willing to engage new donors in your cause.

While schools enlist their students in these peer-to-peer fundraising roles, other nonprofits must search their donor databases for participants. Rather than sending a generic email to your entire audience, encouraging them to sign up for your peer-to-peer fundraiser, pinpoint the most promising individuals by looking for specific indicators. For example, consider:

• Giving history: Has this donor contributed consistently to your nonprofit year after year? If they’ve supported your mission for a long time, they’re likely committed to your organization’s success and know enough about its work to represent it in your next fundraiser.

• Volunteer involvement: Do they regularly commit their time, energy, and skills to move your mission forward? Maybe they’ve served as a volunteer team leader or mentor in your organization’s mentorship program. If that’s the case, they’ll likely be interested in taking the lead in your next fundraising push.

• Event participation: Is this person a familiar face at many of your nonprofit’s events? Frequent event attendance indicates they feel a sense of belonging and connection to your mission. They may be interested in deepening this connection by taking a more active role in your fundraising efforts.
• Social media engagement: Are they vocal members of your organization’s social media community? If so, they’ve already demonstrated a willingness to speak out about your cause online and create buzz among their followers. 

To further hone your outreach, consider using predictive AI tools to assess past behavior and automatically identify prime candidates for your peer-to-peer fundraiser. For instance, the AI might pick up on donors who have demonstrated increasing interest in your cause over the past few months, such as subscribing to text messages and attending events.

Use Intuitive Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Software

Before peer-to-peer participants can begin collecting donations on your nonprofit’s behalf, they must create individual fundraising pages. That’s where online fundraising software comes in handy.

Look for a peer-to-peer platform with these features:

• Donation page creation. Participants should be able to customize their donation pages with their personal funding goals, pictures, videos, descriptions, and updates. To build momentum and excitement, the pages should include a real-time fundraising thermometer or progress bar to help donors visualize how close they are to reaching their goal.

• Communication tools. Participants should be able to share their fundraising pages via social media and email with only a few clicks. Provide templates, graphics, and other branding elements to help them share consistent, compelling messages with their networks. Some platforms may even come with pre-made email templates that you can adapt to your nonprofit’s needs.
• Reporting capabilities. Since peer-to-peer fundraisers involve so many moving parts, you need to be able to monitor all participants’ fundraising progress at once. Most platforms provide real-time dashboards that allow you to track metrics such as total amount raised, top-performing fundraisers, and more.

While the software should be intuitive and easy to use, don’t leave participants to figure everything out on their own.

Getting Attention recommends having staff members available to answer questions and ensure that participants have a positive experience from start to finish. However, if you’re low on staff resources or want to provide prompt, ongoing support, consider using an AI chatbot as a virtual assistant. Configure it to answer frequently asked questions and share fundraising tips, such as how to gain more visibility on social media.

Incentivize and Gamify Participation

While most peer-to-peer fundraising participants are motivated by their passion for your nonprofit’s cause, you can make their experience more rewarding by adding incentives and gamification elements to your fundraiser.

For example, a school might engage classes in a friendly competition to see who can raise the most money. Read-A-Thon’s guide to school fundraiser prizes suggests several ideas for how to reward top-performing classes, such as:

• Homework passes
• Extended recess
• Class trophies
• Educational trips
• Pizza or ice cream parties
• Costume week

If you’re unsure what incentives will interest your participants, consider surveying them. Some may appreciate receiving branded merchandise to wear around proudly, while others may prefer experiential rewards, such as behind-the-scenes tours of your facility.

Once you’ve decided on incentives, create a leaderboard that spotlights top fundraising participants in real time. Depending on the length of your fundraiser, post daily or weekly prize spotlights to generate interest among participants and donors.

However, don’t let these incentives replace your volunteer appreciation plan after the fundraiser. All participants, no matter how much they raise, deserve recognition for their hard work in supporting your mission. Follow up with a personalized thank-you message that addresses each recipient by name, references the specific amount they earned through their donation page, and highlights what you’ll be able to accomplish with the funds.

Simplify Online Fundraising with These 4 Free Tools

For new nonprofits, advocacy groups, and other small fundraising teams, raising money online can feel like a major challenge. Your peers say you need a whole set of expensive software solutions to reach donors, while your budget barely covers staff pay. You may start to rely on free generative AI tools like ChatGPT and wonder what else is available to help your organization get on its feet at no cost.

Fortunately, you’ve got options! In this post, we’ll share four types of free fundraising platforms designed to simplify your team’s work without straining your budget.

1. Free Crowdfunding Pages

If you’re new to fundraising, this should be the first tool you try. Crowdfunding sites like GoFundMe and Kickstarter allow anyone to start a basic online fundraiser for free. All you have to do is sign up—in a few minutes, you can create a fundraising page to start collecting donations.

Customizable crowdfunding pages typically include:

• A personalized fundraiser name and photo.
• Description of your organization and why you’re raising money.
• Your fundraising goal and real-time progress toward it.
• Optional updates from your team throughout the fundraiser.
• Basic donation form with the option to tip the platform.

Crowdfunding is one of the simplest forms of online fundraising. Whether you use this tool to launch one-off crowdfunding campaigns or act as a temporary donation page until you have the budget to build out a full website, it’s an easy way to raise funds with no hassle.

Note: While these tools are free to use, be mindful that most charge a small transaction fee per donation, such as 2.9%. This means if a donor gives $100, you’ll receive $97.10.

2. Free Product Fundraising Apps

Product fundraisers have universal appeal since donors get something in return for their generosity, but they’re often hard to run for small groups. Traditionally, you would partner with a product fundraising provider, go door-to-door with paper order forms, collect cash, and coordinate item delivery. 

Nowadays, there’s an easier way. You can use product fundraising apps to easily run 100% online campaigns, whether you want to sell popcorn, cookie dough, branded merchandise, or more. Get started for free and receive a percentage of the sales revenue in your organization’s bank account. Some app providers even handle delivery for you!

For example, Team Butter explains that you can run a cookie dough fundraiser on their app in just a few steps:

1. Sign up and create a fundraiser using the app. Choose which product to sell and add basic information about why you’re raising money.
2. Share the fundraiser with your group and have participants create individual fundraising pages. If different team members or volunteers will be selling products on your organization’s behalf, they should each have their own page or online store. Have them add their personal fundraising goal and story to make the page their own.
3. Participants share their fundraising pages with supporters. Additionally, share the link to your page via text message, email, social media, or any other channel. Supporters can browse products and place orders at any time.
4. Products ship directly to supporters, and you get paid! When your fundraiser ends, your work is done. Supporters get products shipped to their doors, and your organization receives its portion of the profits.

Most often, groups turn product sales into peer-to-peer fundraisers that leverage the power of their community’s personal networks. The right product fundraising app simplifies the process for donors and volunteers.

3. Free Project Management Tools

Sometimes, all it takes to streamline your fundraising is team communication. With free project management tools like Asana or Trello, everyone on your team can create organized task lists and project workflows, then update them in real time to keep work on track.

These tools clarify team member responsibilities and facilitate collaboration, paving the way for more organized, successful fundraising efforts. You can use them for any type of project—assign tasks for generating fundraiser ideas, drafting and sending appeals, following up with donors, etc.

Plus, most free project management tools are fully web-based, so team members can access their tasks from anywhere. This makes it easier for busy, volunteer-led teams to thrive, no matter where they are.

4. “Free” Basic CRMs

Constituent relationship management (CRM) software, also known as a donor database, helps your nonprofit store and manage information about supporters. When this data is easily accessible, you can improve fundraising outreach, track event attendance, and build lasting donor relationships.

Most CRMs are complex solutions with a monthly or annual cost (sometimes per user license) that can take up a large chunk of your budget. If you’re looking for a powerful CRM that you can customize to fit your nonprofit’s unique needs, you’ll have to spend money to purchase, implement, and customize it.

If you only need the basics, however, providers like Givebutter offer “free” databases you can consider. We say “free” here because these solutions come with a few major caveats:

• • Fees are often passed on to donors. Instead of charging your nonprofit a processing fee, many free platforms ask your donors to pay it. You may be required to turn on “donor tipping” and ask supporters to pay additional fees when they give.
  • There may be hidden costs. Large-scale CRMs like Salesforce offer a few free user licenses to nonprofits. However, once you get started, you might run into charges for implementation, consulting, and platform customization.
  • Lack of features may cause you to spend more. The limited functionality of free CRMs might lead you to invest in several additional solutions, ultimately increasing costs. Or, your system might push you to upgrade to its paid version to access crucial features like automation.

Whether a free system is worth these cons ultimately depends on your organization. Here’s what the experts at Bloomerang say about the potential drawbacks of free CRMs:

“When it comes to free fundraising software, you often get what you pay for. That means you likely won’t see the results—increased fundraising revenue, increased donor retention rate, increased average gift size—that you would likely see when using a paid solution. Plus, these free solutions can often limit your ability to fundraise effectively, costing you even more money than what you’d spend to invest in a paid fundraising software solution.”

 

That said, some nonprofits just can’t justify spending the time and money it takes to implement a large-scale database. If your organization is just starting out or simply wants to move beyond spreadsheets, a basic CRM could be a great way to scale up your fundraising efforts.

Each of these tools comes with pros and cons, but they can make a major difference in your nonprofit’s fundraising potential without cutting into your budget. As you evaluate your options, make sure to check provider websites and online reviews to determine which free tools are the best fit for your needs.

Mastering AI Prompting for Grant Writers: 4 Pointers

AI platforms have been game-changing for grant writers. Learning how to use AI tools effectively leads to improved efficiency and higher-quality proposals, leading to more grants won and more impact on the ground.

You’ve likely seen or heard many stories by now that might make you think twice about using AI for grant writing—like AI chatbots providing nonsense answers to simple questions. However, what sets expert AI users apart from the victims of (sometimes funny, sometimes serious) AI mishaps often comes down to how you approach this technology. 

AI is a tool for you, the human with context, judgment, and common sense, to master and use. It’s not a replacement for careful thought and hands-on quality control.

AI has been with us long enough now that best practices have emerged, specifically around prompting, which involves the inputs or instructions you give generative AI tools that shape their outputs. You then use these responses to compile and curate your grant proposals. Effective AI prompting can make the difference between a won grant and a jumbled proposal that fails to get noticed.

Let’s walk through four essential tips for prompting AI for grant writing tasks.

1. Remember that Context is Essential.

Generative AI is often general AI—meaning these platforms are typically designed to serve many purposes. ChatGPT, for example, is built to be useful for any situation, so it isn’t deeply trained on your particular area of operations or nonprofit subject matter.

This generalized training means you can’t provide a general or vague prompt to a generative AI tool and expect a detailed, perfectly aligned response. You have to provide it with the appropriate context to generate useful answers.

Learn Grant Writing’s guide to AI prompting recommends a four-step framework for building the appropriate context with a generative AI platform:

1. Build fundee context. Provide the AI tool with background information about your nonprofit, mission, history, specific project, and grant application. If you’ve hosted kickoff meetings with your team about the grant, try uploading transcripts. After laying this foundation, you should be able to generate helpful first drafts of your proposal sections about background, project descriptions, and goals.
2. Build funder context. Then, explain important details about the funder to the AI platform. Gather any relevant information about the funder and grant opportunity—focus areas, eligibility requirements, specific language the funder uses, etc.—and provide it to the AI. Generate a “funder profile” summary that the AI can more easily reference going forward.
3. Merge fundee and funder context. Use the combined insights, including your first background sections of your proposal and the “funder profile,” to generate drafts of the remaining sections of your proposal. Review, correct, refine, and retry as needed as you go.
4. Customize and reiterate with advanced techniques. For more complicated proposals or situations, you may need to take additional steps to refine your AI strategy. For example, you might build a custom AI model with preconfigured training and context or use multiple AI tools for different purposes in an orderly workflow.

These steps may sound like a lot of work, but by putting time and effort into these first steps, you can drastically increase the quality and relevance of an AI’s outputs, saving you significant time in the long run. If you don’t provide careful context upfront, the time required to correct and adjust the AI’s responses will mean you might as well have written it from scratch.

2. Understand the Importance of “Chain Prompting.”

When using AI for grant writing, it’s not just about what you ask the AI to generate—it’s also about how you ask it. To save time (and reduce headaches), you’ll need to master a technique that’s all about breaking down your tasks into smaller, more manageable parts. 

If you’ve ever given a vague or overly broad prompt to an AI tool, you’ve likely seen how quickly things can go off track. Why? Because, unlike humans, AI can’t make those logical leaps or fill in contextual gaps. It needs clear, structured guidance to deliver meaningful results.

So, what exactly is chain prompting? In simple terms, chain prompting is the process of breaking a complex task or request into smaller, discrete steps. 

Rather than asking AI to tackle a big question all at once, you guide it step-by-step, ensuring that it has the context it needs at every stage. This approach helps you keep the AI on track and makes it easier to get the specific responses you’re looking for.

For example, let’s say you’re planning an advocacy campaign to raise awareness about environmental policy changes in your area. This is a complex task with many moving parts, and if you simply ask AI, “Help me plan my advocacy campaign,” it might give you a general outline, but that won’t really save you any time if you then need to correct and fill it out yourself.

To get the best results, chain prompting helps you break down the campaign into smaller, manageable steps. Here is how you might approach the example above:

1. Define your main objective: Instead of asking AI for a full campaign plan, start with a specific, clear prompt, such as, “What are the key objectives of an advocacy campaign for environmental policy change in [your region]?” Clearly state your objective and any specific goals to the AI.
2. Identify your target audience: Next, ask, “Who are the key stakeholders for this environmental policy advocacy campaign? How can I engage local businesses, community leaders, and activists?”
3. List campaign tactics: After identifying your audience, move on to specific tactics. You might ask, “What are the most effective strategies for grassroots lobbying in environmental campaigns that align with my objective and goals?”
4. Set a timeline: Once you have your tactics, ask, “Can you help me create a timeline for accomplishing my goals in the next 6 months, broken down by key milestones and actions?”
5. Create messaging: Finally, ask for something more detailed, like, “What should the core message of this advocacy campaign be to appeal to local policymakers, the general public, and funders in support of [specific policy]?”

With each step, you ensure the AI understands the context and gives you a more focused response. At each stage, you can adjust and refine based on your campaign’s needs, adding new prompts like, “How can I adjust the timeline if we experience a delay in the first milestone?” or “Can you suggest a more persuasive messaging strategy for engaging local government officials?”

At its core, this technique involves clearly stating what you want, breaking it down into specific steps or components, and getting confirmation as you go that the AI has retained the context along the way.

This process doesn’t just save time—it ensures the quality and relevance of the outputs you get. By guiding AI through a logical sequence, you’re more likely to end up with a detailed and coherent result that you can use in your grant proposals.

3. Clearly Define Your AI Use Cases and Limitations.

AI is incredible, but it’s not magic. It can’t (and shouldn’t) do it all. To truly make the most of it, you need to know exactly where it shines and where its involvement might actually create more work than it saves.

AI is fantastic for tasks like research, prep work, and drafting sections of text. It can help you gather relevant grant opportunities, create first drafts for certain sections of your proposal, and organize your thoughts. When it comes to business logistics for grant writing freelancers, AI tools can certainly save you time there as well.

But just because AI is fast doesn’t mean it’s the best option for every task. When you’re deep into more nuanced or creative work, like refining your message or tackling a groundbreaking approach, that’s where human expertise shines. Remember, AI is built on patterns from past information. It can’t easily come up with “new” ideas or solutions.

Think of it this way: AI can’t be your primary driver if you’re explaining a novel approach to a problem to a funder or trying to come up with innovative strategies for your project plans. It doesn’t have the same intuition, creativity, or understanding of the unique nuances of your nonprofit’s mission that you do. Use AI carefully in these situations—it’s better as a tool to support your thinking, not replace it.

Set clear boundaries for AI’s role in your process to ensure it works for you, not against you. Defining these use cases will simplify and improve your entire experience using it. 

Of course, you can experiment and add new use cases over time as you learn the best ways to prompt AI for different purposes, but be mindful of how long this takes—if you could do a task yourself at the same level of quality in the same amount of time, it should likely live with you.

4. Use Multiple AI Tools if Needed.

Mastering AI prompting is a critical part of grant writing success, but it’s not just about crafting great prompts. It’s also about using the right tools for the job. 

Think of it like creating a masterpiece: An artist doesn’t use just one brush to complete a detailed painting. They rely on a variety of tools, each designed for a specific task. The same principle applies to AI. While crafting effective prompts is important, choosing the right AI tool for each part of the grant writing process is just as crucial. 

Even with the best prompts, if you’re using the wrong AI tool, you’ll still struggle to get the consistent, high-quality results you need.

Some different tools you can use throughout the grant writing process include:

• Research and Prospecting Tools: AI excels at scanning vast databases and bringing back relevant information quickly. For grant writing, this means tools that help you identify the right funding opportunities and learn more about funders’ giving histories.
• Writing Assistants: These tools help organize your ideas, improve your sentence structure, check grammar, and refine readability. They can also help you keep your language consistent and ensure your proposal aligns with the funder’s expectations.
• Data Analysis Tools: For proposals that require heavy usage of statistics or financial breakdowns, data analysis tools are essential. These tools help you process large amounts of information and distill it into meaningful insights that you can use to tell stories and support claims. 
• Project Management Tools: AI-powered project management tools are great for staying organized during complex grant projects. They help you keep track of deadlines, assign tasks, set reminders, and even coordinate team efforts.

All-purpose generative AI platforms like ChatGPT can fit into all of these categories—but that doesn’t mean they necessarily should. Mastering AI prompting will ensure you can use ChatGPT and similar tools effectively for all kinds of tasks, but just remember that more specialized options exist. If your nonprofit wants to invest in its AI capabilities, it’s worth your time to explore a broader range of popular AI grant writing tools. 

You can even use AI tools to support grant management and report on impact later in the life cycle (but focus on improving your grant seeking process with AI first).

When you pair great prompting with the right tools, you’re setting yourself up for success. Choose wisely, and you’ll streamline your workflow, refine your proposals, and ultimately increase your chances of securing funding. 

AI prompting helps you create more effective, targeted proposals. With clear prompts, the proper context, and the right tools, you’ll get the best possible results every time.

Just keep in mind that while AI can streamline tasks and improve efficiency, your nuanced understanding of your nonprofit’s mission, goals, and challenges is irreplaceable. When you bring your insight and vision to the table, you’ll create proposals that truly shine.

Building Community with Donors: 5 Heartfelt Outreach Ideas

Whether you’re cultivating large gifts from prospective major giving candidates or building up a community of moderate donors, fundraising ultimately comes down to relationships. No matter how much they plan to give, all supporters are more likely to donate if they feel a sense of community with your nonprofit. 

Nonprofit fundraising professionals know that every donor is different but that most supporter relationships rest on the same handful of building blocks. From expressing proper donor recognition to providing engagement opportunities, supporters are more likely to form a strong connection with organizations that provide heartfelt, thoughtful outreach. 

To inspire your nonprofit’s relationship-building strategies, this guide will explore five meaningful outreach ideas. 

1. Personalize outreach.

Your outreach will feel heartfelt and genuine if it feels personal. After all, donors are far more likely to feel like valued members of your community if they receive messages addressed by name rather than a generic “Dear donor.” 

To craft unique, individualized messages, use your marketing tools to implement segmentation and personalization strategies. Here’s how these two approaches work:

• Segmentation organizes your supporters based on shared characteristics. This might include demographic information, engagement history, giving capacity, or any other factors you deem relevant. For instance, to guide your texting strategy, you might make one segment for supporters who have opted into SMS communication and another for those who have opted out. By doing so, you can be sure that the supporters who want to be contacted via text will get your messages without bothering those who don’t.
• Personalization involves including details about individual supporters in your messages, such as their names and engagement history. For example, to a supporter on your SMS-friendly list, you might write them a donation appeal text that addresses them by name, thanks them for their last gift, and calls out their previous contribution’s specific amount. 

To keep your supporters organized and automatically fill out message templates with relevant information, you’ll need marketing software. Tools like a constituent management relationship system (CRM), email platforms, and text marketing apps can do most of the work for you. 

2. Send eCards.

Thank-you emails and texts are staples of every nonprofit outreach plan. You can elevate these communications and provide donors with meaningful messages they’ll want to hold onto with eCards. eCards are digital greeting cards that pair a thoughtful message with an eye-catching design. 

eCardWidget’s guide to charity eCards shows off this example of a thank you eCard from the nonprofit Youth for Understanding:

This eCard demonstrates appreciation, shows off the nonprofit’s brand, and provides recipients with a fun visual that represents their donation’s impact. By adding graphics, photos, or even animations that represent your cause, you can connect with donors and reinforce their decision to support your organization.

In addition to thank you messages, nonprofits can also sell eCards to raise funds. For instance, a supporter might donate $25 and get an eCard that they can send to a friend or family member in exchange. This approach not only gives donors something in exchange for their gift but also helps promote and spread awareness of your nonprofit. 

3. Host appreciation events

To form a community around your nonprofit, bring your supporters together through in-person appreciation events. In-person events are opportunities to talk with your supporters one-on-one and encourage them to connect with one another. 

If you have a wide audience who live in geographically remote areas, you can also experiment with virtual events. Hosting a mix of in-person and virtual events gives all of your supporters a chance to engage with your nonprofit and build connections. 

Of course, to get supporters to attend your event, you’ll need to promote it. Get the word out by:

• Sending personalized invitations. Reach out to donors with personalized invitations that address them by name. If supporters have attended past events, be sure to mention that and thank them for their previous participation. 

• Previewing activities. Share details of what will happen at your event to intrigue guests and drive registrations. Feature photos and an itinerary so supporters can decide if they want to attend and share the details with others. 
• Leveraging multiple marketing channels. Reach a wider audience and ensure supporters who RSVP don’t forget to attend by continuing to market your event across numerous channels. For instance, you might email your entire supporter base to fully explain your event and follow it up with a text message that provides the highlights or links to a website page with more details. Mogli’s guide to SMS marketing shares how links in text messages have a 19% click-through rate as compared to email’s 2.6%, making it a useful channel for drawing attention. 

Not every appreciation event has to be a major undertaking. For instance, you might throw an impromptu appreciation lunch for volunteers by taking everyone out to a local restaurant, or you could host weekly online trivia nights that donors can drop in on. 

4. Feature community spotlights

Give specific supporters a bit of public recognition with community spotlights. This outreach idea is a type of direct marketing fundraising, the act of marketing to one specific supporter rather than creating general messages for your entire audience. This type of fundraising tends to be highly individualized and thus can be very effective in making recipients feel recognized and valued. 

Additionally, community spotlights send a message to the rest of your donors. They’ll see that your nonprofit appreciates individual supporters who go above and beyond, which might inspire them to follow suit. 

Use your community spotlights not just as a way to show donor appreciation but also to encourage specific behaviors in the rest of your community. For example, you might spotlight a supporter who brought in the most revenue during a peer-to-peer campaign or someone who racked up 100 volunteer hours this year.

5. Share stakeholder videos

Let your stakeholders express how meaningful your donors’ support is in their own words by recording and sharing videos of them telling their stories. 

Sit down with a few stakeholders and ask them to discuss their experiences with your nonprofit and how support powered by donors has impacted them. In addition to interviews, add footage of your program sites and share photos of your volunteers in action so donors can see the tangible impact their support has made.

In addition to videos that express appreciation for your supporters in general, create personalized videos for notable individual donors. For instance, you might ask a few stakeholders to help record messages for major donors and then use that footage to create unique videos for each recipient. 

When you build heartfelt, meaningful relationships with your supporters, you can boost event attendance, earn volunteers, and maximize donations. To lay the foundation for these connections, assess your audience and start planning outreach strategies that will resonate with as many supporters as possible while maintaining a personal touch.