By Katherine Pooser, MPA
Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy®

The stakes are higher with the Great Wealth Transfer underway, where it’s projected that an additional $18T or $750B annually will go to charities by 2048, making Planned Giving more important than ever. Planned Giving is the focus area of the Philanthropic Planning Group of Greater New York (PPGGNY) where I serve as President. To prepare the field for the Great Wealth Transfer PPGGNY and AFP will continue to collaborate. Planned Giving is not so intimidating from the inside; with a focus on marketing, asks, and infrastructure, organizations can quickly become proficient in the fastest-growing revenue stream of the philanthropic sector.

When I started my career, I did not know about Planned Giving or the Great Wealth Transfer. Instead, I was a fundraising generalist listening to a conference speaker who said, “I align people’s assets with their values.” That is the moment my career trajectory changed to becoming a specialist in Planned Giving. After nearly a decade and a half into my Planned Giving career, the description remains the best I know, and it drives my work as we build a proactive Planned Giving program at the Cancer Research Institute (CRI).

Let’s explore what aligning assets with values means in practice.

Not once has a supporter ever started a conversation like this: “As part of the Great Wealth Transfer, I’d like your help with aligning my assets with my values.” Instead, the conversation starts usually in one of these three ways:

1. Supporter responds to a marketing piece
2. Gift Officer includes Planned Giving as an option to consider in their regular conversations with supporters
3. Supporter emails the organization’s general inbox on a random Saturday to ask what the organization’s tax ID number is

In my experience, the intimidating part of Planned Giving is not what to say after the conversation begins; it is getting the conversation started. We rely on marketing and asks or direct solicitation to be our conversation starters. Once the conversation is started, it is wildly rewarding: fundraisers get to learn about a supporter’s values, reflections on life’s purpose, their hope for the future, and their connection with the mission. Along the way, we help supporters determine the best assets for leaving to their heirs, which are best suited for charity, and how to set this all in place.

These meaningful conversations are dictated by the supporter’s timing, not the charity’s. Unlike annual fund gifts or gifts to capital campaigns, the timeline for Planned Giving is unique to each donor. Drip marketing, a steady stream of information about Planned Giving, is slowly messaged out until it aligns with the donor’s own timeline. We use this same steady-stream tactic for our gift officers, annual fund, and marketing team. Keeping all of our external communicators confident enough to make Planned Giving a relevant element of their work, which builds our pipeline for starting the conversation.

When it comes to starting conversations via asks or direct donor solicitation of Planned Gifts, it is more important to start and ask many supporters than to agonize over the perfect ask to a few. While staying current on tax codes and gift types matters, it's not necessarily what matters most. There are two reasons why:

●       Most planned gifts are bequests, and

●       Fundraisers plant seeds, not execute gift instruments.

It is the fundraiser’s role to plant the seed in Planned Giving, not execute the gift instrument. Fundraisers are representatives of the charitable organization, not financial advisors or their supporter’s attorney. Fundraisers share what is possible from both an impact and gift planning perspective, and they help supporters in many ways. This help spans from articulating their philanthropic vision to understanding gift mechanics to engaging the advisors the supporter needs to realize their plans.

How can a fundraiser plant the seed for the most common type of Planned Gift?

Bequests are when a supporter remembers a charity in their will or trust for a specific amount or percentage of their assets. See in the AI-generated comics below that asking for a bequest gift can be quite simple.

My top two favorite ways to ask:

1. Because you have been an ardent supporter of the Cancer Research Institute for so long, I would be remiss if I didn’t ask: have you also considered including us in your will or trust?
2. I spoke to another monthly donor who shared with me that she included our charity in her will. Is that something you would consider?

When we ask, “Would you consider including CRI,” it gives the donor space to reflect on their own situation. Typically, I hear a variation of responses, illustrated below, and am always prepared for the worst-case scenario responses, which usually get the same reply as a “no.” 

Once a fundraiser has opened the bequest conversation with wills and trusts, they can also share the upsides to using retirement assets for charities and remind donors to confirm their beneficiary designations on their Donor Advised Fund (DAF), life insurance, and bank and brokerage accounts. You can get up to speed by checking out these overviews of gift types we provide to CRI supporters to help them with their planning. If the donor responds positively, use the skills you have built in other fundraising domains and provide consistent and timely follow-up. If they decline, again rely on general fundraising skills, respect their wishes, and continue to build the relationship in other ways such as learning about their philanthropic priorities and philosophies.

Now that we have tackled the most intimidating part of Planned Giving, starting the conversation, let’s be sure your organization has the infrastructure to optimize the Great Wealth Transfer (and most are ways of working instead of budget items):

1. At minimum, create a simple webpage with sample bequest language and your organization’s tax ID number, address, and contact information.
2. Show supporters the organization is prepared for their ultimate gift through clear gift acceptance policies and evidence, including leadership and vision that the organization can handle transformational amounts of money (Commonly Planned Gifts are hundreds of times the size of a donor’s total lifetime giving).
3. Include the next generation of family in gift conversations.
4. Nurture a Legacy Society that creates community and stewards intentions.
5. Ask for help from other Planned Giving shops. It’s a very friendly community.

When organizations embrace marketing, asks, and infrastructure, failure is impossible. In my first Planned Giving role, I was part of a team that systematically adopted the suggestions in this article and grew legacy gift intentions from just under 400 to 4,000 in eight years, which equated to a long-term pipeline growth from $16M to $189M. The sustained effort changed the way the global organization did fundraising; planned giving became inculcated in all we did. Inculcated was our lead volunteer’s word. She was an engineer by training and believed our success hinged on momentum. The growth trajectory of gift intentions was parabolic, confirming that momentum matters.

Momentum cannot be realized without starting. Get started today, create momentum, change the way fundraising is done, and ultimately transform how the mission is delivered.

Katherine Pooser is the Director of Planned Giving at the Cancer Research Institute and President of the Philanthropic Planning Group of Greater New York. Katherine is a Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy (CAP®) and holds degrees in Economics (BS) and Public Administration (MPA). She is a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer whose service was in West Africa. Committed to improving the nonprofit sector, she is the host of Asking for Good, a podcast dedicated to launching and navigating nonprofit careers.

by CJ Orr
Chief Executive Officer, Orr Group

This is an update to a piece I first wrote in 2020. Six years later (and after a little less hair on my head), the core thesis still stands. The data behind it has changed, and one new factor has emerged that didn't exist six years ago.

The short answer

Americans gave a record $617.20 billion to charity in 2025, up 5.7% from 2024 (3.0% adjusted for inflation), according to Giving USA 2026. It was the first year total U.S. giving crossed the $600 billion mark(!).

Three of the four forces I flagged back in 2020 are still in motion. One has shifted in an important way. And a fourth factor has emerged that didn't exist when I first wrote this: a new class of philanthropists created almost overnight by 2026's historic wave of IPOs and AI.

Here are the four reasons why now is the best time to launch a capital campaign:

1. Giving is at an all-time high, and it's broad-based

Total charitable giving reached $617.20 billion in 2025, the highest figure ever recorded. Giving to five of the nine tracked nonprofit subsectors (human services, education, health, arts and culture, and environment/animals) hit all-time highs even after adjusting for inflation.

This isn't one donor type carrying the sector. All four major sources grew:

• Individuals: $394.20 billion, up 4.1%
• Foundations: $117.15 billion, up 5.7%
• Bequests: $62.19 billion, up 19.7%(!!)
• Corporations: $43.67 billion, up 3.1%

Growth across every major donor category is the same broad-based pattern that made 2017 to 2018 a breakout period for campaigns. It's just bigger this time.

Of the campaigns that Orr Group managed in 2026, almost all are on track to meet or exceed their goals. I'll talk about it later in the article, but planned giving / blended giving have been core drivers of that success.

2. While the tax picture has changed, charitable contributions remain the best deduction available

In 2020, I argued the post-2017 standard deduction increase pushed high-net-worth donors toward larger, itemized major gifts. That argument needs an update.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), signed in July 2025 with most charitable provisions taking effect in 2026, cuts in two directions at once.

It expands the donor base at the entry level. Non-itemizers (more than 85% of all taxpayers) can now deduct up to $1,000 (single) or $2,000 (joint) in cash gifts without itemizing. This is the first permanent universal charitable deduction in decades.

It slightly reduces the incentive at the top. Itemizers now face a new 0.5% AGI floor before charitable deductions apply, and the value of itemized deductions is capped at 35% for top-bracket taxpayers, down from the full 37% benefit they had previously.

The practical implication for campaigns: don't lead a major gift conversation with tax savings, but recognize that tax savings are still important in major gift decisions.

Lead with legacy, naming opportunities, and mission impact. Treat tax efficiency (gift bunching, donor-advised funds, qualified charitable distributions from IRAs) as a tool your gift planning team introduces once the donor is committed, not as the headline reason to give.

I am without a doubt not a tax expert. This is general information, not tax advice. Donors and their advisors should confirm current rules with a tax professional before finalizing gift structures.

3. The wealth transfer isn't a forecast anymore; the data has confirmed we're in it!

In 2020, I cited Cerulli Associates' projected $68 trillion generational wealth transfer as a future opportunity. It's no longer future. It's visible in this year's data.

Giving by bequest reached $62.19 billion in 2025, up 19.7% from 2024 (16.6% adjusted for inflation). That was the largest increase of any of the four giving sources, by a wide margin. Compare it to individual giving's 4.1% growth or corporate giving's 3.1%.

The federal estate and gift tax exemption also rose to $15 million per individual ($30 million for married couples) for 2026 under OBBBA, meaning the overwhelming majority of estates now avoid federal estate tax entirely.

That doesn't reduce the amount of wealth changing hands. It means more of it moves directly to heirs and to the causes donors choose, rather than being routed through estate tax planning.

For campaigns, that makes planned giving conversations, blended gifts, and legacy society engagement more urgent, not less. If you combine individual and bequest giving, individuals accounted for roughly 74% of every charitable dollar given in 2025.

As I mentioned above, using planned giving or estate planning in campaigns has yielded exceptional outcomes. What was once a one-time cash gift is now a cash + planned, multi-year gift that gets you access to a much larger ask.

4. A third wave of philanthropists is arriving through IPOs and AI wealth

This is the factor that didn't exist in 2020, and it's worth naming directly. We've been learning about this third wave of philanthropy from this article: https://nanransohoff.substack.com/p/the-third-wave-of-american-philanthropy

In the article, it mainly talks about the wave of philanthropy from AI companies. I'd go further and say that it's also a wave of other IPOs that might be AI-adjacent. SpaceX completed the largest IPO in history in June 2026, pricing at $135 per share and reaching a valuation above $1.7 trillion on its trading debut. That single event created enormous new liquid wealth among employees, early investors, and executives who previously held illiquid private equity.

SpaceX wasn't alone. Reporting through 2026 indicated other major private technology companies, including OpenAI and Anthropic, were weighing public listings — part of a broader wave converting private paper wealth into liquid capital.

This matters for campaigns because newly liquid wealth does not automatically become philanthropic capital. It has to be cultivated.

Donors from this cohort are frequently first-generation major givers. Many have no established family foundation, no existing donor-advised fund, and no prior relationship with a gift officer at any institution. Their giving patterns, advisor relationships, and cause affinities are still forming.

Nonprofits and campaign counsel who build relationships with this emerging donor class early, before those patterns lock in, have a real first-mover advantage. It's the same dynamic I flagged with Baby Boomer wealth transfer in 2020, on a faster timeline and with a different generation of wealth.

What the record number obscures

One honest caveat, because the headline figure hides a real risk.

Adjusted for inflation, individual giving in 2025 ($394.20 billion) remains roughly 15% below its 2021 peak of $464.12 billion, and is essentially flat against 2017. Individual giving as a share of disposable personal income fell to 1.7% in 2025, down from 2.4% in both 2000 and 2005.

In other words: total dollars are at a record, but a growing share of those dollars comes from a narrowing set of large estates, foundations, and mega-gifts, while the everyday donor base contracts.

For campaign planning, that means two things. The capacity for transformational gifts has never been higher, which is precisely why campaigns work right now. But organizations relying on broad annual giving to sustain operations between campaigns face real headwinds. A campaign strategy built only on the top of the pyramid is fragile. Fundraising in campaigns from both sections of the pyramid is our advice.

What this means for your campaign

Four forces are compounding at once:

1. Record total giving, at an all-time high across every major source
2. A tax code that now rewards broad participation more than it once rewarded major gifts specifically
3. A wealth transfer that is actively happening rather than projected
4. A new cohort of donors created almost overnight by 2026's IPO/AI wave

Organizations that move now, with a blended-gift strategy pairing outright cash with planned and legacy commitments, are positioned to capture a moment that will not look the same in five years.

Frequently asked questions

Is now a good time to launch a capital campaign? The data supports it. Total U.S. giving reached a record $617.20 billion in 2025, crossing $600 billion for the first time. Growth was broad-based across individual, foundation, corporate, and bequest giving, and bequest giving grew nearly five times faster than any other source.

Did tax law changes in 2026 make charitable giving less attractive for major donors? Not less attractive overall, but some shifts. The 2026 OBBBA rules introduced a 0.5% AGI floor and a 35% deduction cap for top-bracket itemizers, modestly reducing the tax benefit of very large single gifts. At the same time, a new universal deduction extended tax benefits to non-itemizing donors for the first time since pandemic-era rules expired.

Why is bequest giving growing so much faster than other giving sources? Giving by bequest grew 19.7% in 2025, compared with 4.1% for individual giving and 3.1% for corporate giving. This reflects the ongoing generational wealth transfer as Baby Boomers pass on accumulated assets, which is a trend now appearing directly in the data rather than as a forward-looking projection.

How should nonprofits approach donors who became wealthy through 2026's IPO/AI wave? Treat them as a distinct cultivation priority. Many newly liquid donors from listings like SpaceX's June 2026 IPO have no established foundation, donor-advised fund, or gift officer relationship yet. Organizations that build these relationships before giving patterns are set gain a durable advantage.

Is the record giving total good news for all nonprofits? Not uniformly. While total dollars hit a record, inflation-adjusted individual giving remains below its 2021 peak, and giving as a share of disposable personal income declined to 1.7%. Growth is increasingly concentrated in large estates, foundations, and mega-gifts, which favors campaign-style fundraising over broad annual giving.

Having served as a trusted partner to clients for over 10 years, CJ Orr has broad experience in fundraising and development, executive leadership, strategic planning, campaigns, and event management. He has launched funds, designed and led strategic initiatives, and driven fundraising for large galas and campaigns ranging from $10M to $1B+ in revenue. As an expert project and relationship manager, he executes on the development of strategies and tactics to drive effective fundraising plans that meet or exceed targets. Internally, CJ is responsible for setting and driving achievement of Orr Group’s financial targets and overseeing efficient operations within the firm. Additionally, CJ supports the efforts of Orr Group’s Growth team to identify and cultivate new business opportunities and build relationships with nonprofit partners, ensuring that the services offered are best aligned with our partners’ needs. CJ’s background in finance provides him with a strong foundation in analytics, metrics and ROI.

by M. Angel Flores, CSPG
VP, Advancement, Communities In Schools

I love fall, and not just because it’s my birthday season. I love the crispness of cool mornings and evenings, the changing leaves, the excitement of a new school year, the decreasing daylight, all of which signal that the season of deep introspection is nearing.

In Ayurveda, fall is a season of work – harvesting the remaining food, storing it, cleaning our homes to prepare for more time indoors. Winter is then the season of deep rest and reflection. I know, I know… we live in NYC, one of the largest, busiest, and least chill cities in the world. And yet, we can still find time to slow down. Truly given all that’s happening in the world, we must. Slow. Down.

Astrologically – stay with me! – the planets are doubling, if not tripling, down on signaling the need for us to take a step (or many) back and reflect. From October 3 through November 13, Venus, the planet of humanity and connection, is retrograde (reversing course in the sky) in Scorpio, the sign of transformation and depth. Essentially, we are being called to go deep with our review of how we connect and relate to each other, how we love each other. And that review requires acknowledging some very hard truths.

You’re probably thinking, “I thought this article was about philanthropy.” It is and we’re making the pivot… now!

As fundraisers, our business is philanthropy so let’s begin with the understanding that philanthropy is necessary only because of centuries of colonization and genocide. Indigenous peoples of Turtle Island were forcibly removed from their ancestral lands and their way of living; reservation existence and endemic poverty were forced upon them. Certain communities across this land have less wealth because of centuries of brutal enslavement followed by decades of intentional disenfranchisement through legal policies that enforced separation and subjugation. This is true around the world.

Two years ago, I had the opportunity to participate in a Habitat of Humanity build in la República Dominicana. It was an incredible experience. What stuck with me, however, was a presentation that included the current economic status of la República Dominicana. The U.S. is the largest trading partner of this small island by a wide margin, and yet 19% of Dominicanos live in poverty, with over 88,000 humans living on no more than $3 a day. The need for housing was brought into stark relief as were the conditions perpetuating that need - but surely I  wasn't the only one seeing the absurdity of the situation? 

Is Habitat for Humanity doing a great service by building safe, structurally sound homes in la República Dominicana? Without a doubt.

In world where we truly valued human life, would a U.S.-based organization need to build homes in foreign country that annually imports $7B worth of U.S. goods? No.

However, when the trade deficit between these countries is $5B+ and the poverty rate of the country holding the deficit is nearly one-fifth of the total population, philanthropy becomes a necessity simply to ensure people have their basic needs met. It’s a manufactured problem that requires a solution that – miracle of miracles! – only the problem creator can solve. That is colonialism and capitalism in a nutshell.

So where does this leave us? As we move through the Venus retrograde in Scorpio and the fall season to prepare for winter’s push for deep rest and reflection, fundraisers are uniquely positioned to consider the ways in which we raise money and how our work truly supports humanity or continues, even in small ways, to contribute to harm.

Here are just a few questions sitting on my heart:

• Artificial Intelligence – Nonprofits are racing to use AI tools despite no substantive ROI data and with full knowledge that this technology is untested and increasingly showing signs of causing significant harm. Let’s also be clear-eyed that genocidal regimes are piloting this technology to autonomously kill humans. I’m sure many fundraisers are crafting strategy this minute for the moment if / when these companies go public and their leadership are flush with newfound wealth. How much time saved, how many dollars raised are worth the destruction of humanity, as stated by tech company leaders?

• Data Centers – The buildings powering AI are being built on farmland, near residential areas, and in locations that are ecologically important and fragile. Democratic processes are being completely ignored to fast-track data centers that are up to 17 times larger than Central Park. My organization’s largest footprint is in Texas – also the site of 596 operating or planned data centers. How will Texas children show up ready to learn in school living next to a building that emits poisonous fumes and incessant noise, both of which are causing farm animals to stop eating and become disoriented and increasingly infertile?

• Environment – The Trump administration has opened millions of acres of previously protected land for drilling and mining and border wall construction. Currently, the administration is actively destroying Big Bend National Park with zero (or more likely FULL) consideration for destroying evidence of human presence dating back 10,000+ years. Presumably the companies engaging in this irreparable harm have CSR programs and leadership engaging in philanthropy. Can I, in good conscience, pursue and accept such funds knowing that friends and colleagues who work in environmental protection, Indigenous affairs, and human rights are working to mitigate and stop the harm created by these same entities?

As I head into a five-day silent meditation retreat, I’ll be reflecting on these questions and many others, as well as my role as a team leader, philanthropic advisor, fundraiser, and above all, a human and future ancestor.

I invite you to reach out and connect with me, with friends and colleagues, with anyone working to uplift humanity.

Let’s go deeper, together, and come out of the darkness with the plan for a world built on and for loving human connection.

It won’t be easy, there many powerful interests hellbent on maintaining the disastrous status quo of profits before people, but I know it's possible and absolutely necessary.

¡Ándale!

M. Angel Flores (she/her) proudly serves as AFP NYC Treasurer. She is the Vice President of Advancement for Communities In Schools National Office, which is celebrating its 50^th anniversary in 2027. Previously, Angel was a nonprofit fundraising consultant, planning and managing campaigns ranging from $20 million to $4 billion. A natural community builder and culture creator, she led her team’s mentorship program and founded the first organizational employee resource group for working parents and an employee-led health initiative that offered meditation and movement classes. Highly motivated and results-oriented, she led a volunteer practice group focused on diversifying and increasing revenue for nonprofits. She is a member of the Board of the New York Philanthropic Planned Giving Group and her local school district. Angel currently resides on the historic lands of the Munsee Lenape, Schaghticoke, and Wappinger Peoples with her family. She draws on her Buddhist, Ayurvedic, meditation, dance, and yoga training to maintain her flexibility and strength in mind, body, and spirit. Connect with Angel on LinkedIn.

by Patrick Schmitt
Co-CEO of FreeWill

Giving USA 2026 reported that Americans gave $617.2 billion to charity in 2025, up 5.7 percent (3.0 percent after inflation). That is a new high in current dollars and the second-highest total ever recorded once adjusted for inflation. The headline is good news, and every major source of giving grew. But underneath the topline sits one number you should pay close attention to this year: bequest giving rose almost 20 percent.

Here are five signals from the report and what they mean for fundraisers.

1. The Great Wealth Transfer is showing up in the data

Bequests reached $62.19 billion in 2025, up 19.7% (16.6% after inflation). That was the fastest growth of any giving source and the third double-digit year in the last four. Wendy McGrady, chair of the Giving USA Foundation, put it plainly to The Chronicle of Philanthropy: "you better be in the planned giving game, if you're not."

Many organizations have a legacy society but no operating plan for when gifts actually arrive. Now is the time to write or update a gift acceptance policy that covers real estate, business interests, retirement assets, and crypto. At FreeWill, more than 2,400 nonprofits use our tools to grow legacy giving, and the payoff isn't only long term: when someone includes a nonprofit in their estate plan, their annual giving to that nonprofit increases by about 75%.

Don't stop at wills. Beneficiary designations on retirement accounts take minutes and don't require an attorney, making them a natural next step for donors already giving through qualified charitable distributions. National Estate Planning Awareness Week (October 19 to 25) is an easy, low-cost moment to raise the topic with your supporters. As always, encourage donors to consult their own legal and tax advisors.

2. Don't misread the foundation headline

One number in this year's report will generate alarming coverage: giving to foundations fell 16.2% (18.3% after inflation). Look closer before you brief your board. That decline follows a 2024 that grew 32.6%, a near-record baseline, and the two-year arc from 2023 to 2025 is still a substantial net increase.

More importantly, giving to foundations is not giving by foundations. The grants nonprofits rely on grew 5.7% to $117.15 billion in 2025. Over the last five years, foundation grantmaking has grown at an annualized 7.3%, compared with 4% for individual giving. Foundations accounted for 7% of all giving in 1985. Today they account for 19%.

This shift has real implications for staffing and strategy. For many organizations, institutional funding is no longer a supplement to individual giving. It deserves dedicated capacity, a clear pipeline, and the same rigor you bring to major gifts.

3. Individual giving is concentrating at the top

In 1985, individuals gave 80 cents of every charitable dollar. In 2025, they gave 64 cents. Individual giving as a share of disposable income hit a 40-year low of 1.7%, and the number of everyday donor households has been shrinking for years. What fills the gap is larger gifts from fewer, wealthier donors.

Two responses make sense at once. First, be ready for transformational gifts. Mega-donors fund big visions, not budget gaps, so draft a one-page answer to the question "What would you do with $10 million?" and pressure-test it with your board chair. Second, keep investing in mid-level and everyday donors. They are your pipeline protection against a donor base that keeps narrowing.

4. DAFs must be prioritized

The S&P 500 fell roughly 19% to an April low after tariff announcements, then rebounded nearly 39% through year-end for a total return of 18%. Giving still hit a record. The lesson: don't pause appeals during a downturn. You can't time the market. Planned giving is also one of the few strategies that doesn't rise and fall with portfolios.

Meanwhile, public-society benefit giving grew 11.6% to $72.06 billion, and most of that reflects donor-advised fund (DAF) sponsor activity. Fidelity Charitable alone granted $18.3 billion in 2025, up 23%. DAFgiving360 granted $10 billion, up 28%. If DAF giving isn't visible on your donation page and named in your year-end appeals, you are leaving money on the table.

5. A decline in religiosity is reshaping the donor base

Religion remained the largest giving category at roughly $152 billion, but it was the only subsector to decline in real dollars (down 0.2% after inflation). Its share of total giving has fallen from 53% in 1985 to roughly a quarter today. According to PRRI, weekly church attendance fell to 26% in 2025, down from 31% in 2013, and 87% of church attendees donate to a church or charity, compared with just 50% of those who don't attend.

For organizations outside the faith sector, some of this giving may flow your way. The bigger issue is that the habit of giving isn't being passed down automatically anymore. Many older donors learned to give by watching their parents give at church. Younger generations need to learn it somewhere, and nonprofits are well positioned to teach it: show exactly what a dollar does, explain giving vehicles like wills, DAFs, stock, and QCDs, and invite whole families in.

For religious organizations, the most committed members are aging, and much of their giving capacity sits in non-cash assets. Planned giving and estate planning conversations will be how those organizations grow.

The takeaway: update your playbook

Share these findings with your board and executive director this month with our GivingUSA 2026 board briefing. This quarter, ask your board to:

1. Confirm the organization has a named owner and a real budget for planned giving.
2. Ask management whether legacy giving is actively marketed to donors, and review the script.
3. Review revenue concentration: how dependent is the budget on a handful of large, market-linked gifts?
4. Resist over-reacting to the foundation headline; evaluate your own funder mix on its merits.

The organizations that act on these trends, rather than just read them, will be the ones that benefit most.

Patrick Schmitt is co-CEO of FreeWill, which he and fellow FreeWill co-CEO Jenny Xia Spradling founded at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business in 2016. FreeWill’s charitable giving platform makes it easier for nonprofit fundraising teams to unlock transformational gifts, and to date, has generated over $15.2 billion in new gift commitments for thousands of nonprofit organizations. Patrick hosts FreeWill’s popular webinar series, educating thousands of nonprofit fundraising professionals each month about planned and non-cash giving strategies.

by Melissa Gomez
Senior Director of Development, Fiver Children's Foundation
and
Melissa McLeod, National Director of Strategic Partnerships
Summer Search

A year into co-chairing AFP-NYC’s Professional Advancement Committee (PAC), we have learned the most useful question in leadership isn’t “What’s next?” It's “Why?”

Melissa McLeod joined Melissa Gomez as co-chair last fall, stepping into a committee with a strong foundation and an established way of operating. Melissa G., the more tenured of the two, knew the current flow like the back of her hand. PAC was already producing programming that met the moment for our fundraising peers, so we began to build on that foundation.

As we planned our year, our conversations moved beyond which events to offer and what we hoped to achieve through each event. We began thinking more intentionally about who we wanted to serve, what members should gain from participating, and whether a different approach could create greater value.

We brought the same reflection toward our leadership. We divided our responsibilities around our individual strengths and shifts in capacity throughout the year. When Melissa M. was onboarding to a new role, Melissa G. made space to give more. When we had an event early in the morning, Melissa M. took the lead and supported Melissa G. as she navigated her morning routine as a new mom. Showing up for one another in these practical ways deepened the trust we needed to question the status quo and better define how we would lead together.

Sharing a first name has caused its fair share of confusion, mostly in committee email threads — ask anyone who has been copied on one. Somewhere along the way we began signing our messages MSquared, an ode to our shared name and partnership.

Asking “Why?” Before Deciding “What?”

Before we decide what session to offer, we pressure-test our thinking. Does it meet the moment? Will its value outlast the event itself? Does the room reflect the full breadth of New York City’s philanthropic community?

Continuity builds trust, and our existing community is the foundation for this. As we honor our existing community and expand who finds community and deepens their professional practice with us, we want our programming to speak to what fundraisers are navigating right now, deliver lessons that are timeless, and make space for the range of people doing this work across the city. That requires thinking about pricing and accessibility, but also about whether a young professional and a senior leader can enter the same room and both find something valuable. Those questions help us preserve what works while adapting our programming for the people it serves now.

How That Thinking Is Shaping Our Programming

Our first symposium of the year, Beyond the First Gift: Practical Strategies for Donor Retention, Growth, and Stewardship offered an early example. Across three sessions, experienced practitioners explored stewardship as a system rather than a series of thank yous, strategies for acquiring and growing monthly donors, and the shared responsibility of staff, boards, and volunteers in sustaining donor relationships.

The symposium shifted attention from the visible milestone of securing a gift to the systems and relationships required to sustain one. Attendees across career levels left with practical strategies, new connections and a reminder that donor relationships are strengthened through coordination among every team and stakeholder who touches them.

Originally designed with early-career professionals in mind, this program already had a strong foundation. Through discussions with our committee members, we saw an opportunity to widen its audience.

The same lens is shaping our Fall Fundamentals Symposium. Designed originally with early-career professionals in mind, this program already had a strong foundation and in discussion with our committee members we saw an opportunity to widen who it reaches.

Fundamentals matter when someone enters fundraising, but also when they pivot into the profession, step into management, inherit a team, or feel lost in an ever-changing fundraising landscape. That’s what shapes our next symposium, The Work Behind the Ask: Data, Decisions and Collaborations in Fundraising, on on October 28 at 9:30 a.m. at Scandinavia House.

One session tackles a question every leadership team eventually faces: which fundraising metrics actually predict future revenue. Knowing how to answer that question is valuable for all fundraisers: It allows a coordinator to plan smarter outreach, a manager to set an ambitious goal that is more than a guess, and a director to determine whether a gala or annual appeal actually moved the needle. Making data-informed decisions is work everyone in the room shares and work that changes what your day-to-day looks like. Another session looks at what it takes to collaborate across the organization — the coordination that turns a good plan into a funded one.

Participants at every career stage will leave with practical approaches for their daily work, no matter their title or team size. Join us October 28 to be part of the conversation.

Who Gets to Shape the Work

Growth for PAC means listening beyond the people already in the room. We want our committee, speakers, and participants to reflect the organizations, identities, career paths, and perspectives that make up philanthropy across New York City. We also aim to foster a place where our members can test new ideas and help shape professional development that reflects the field as it is and as it could be.

A year in, we have learned that challenging the status quo does not mean discarding what works. It means being willing to reconsider how we share the work, who gets to lead it, and who can see themselves in AFP-NYC programming. That is what MSquared has come to mean for us: a partnership that makes room for one another, empowers our committee members to lead, and invites more of New York City’s fundraising community into the work.

Not every established practice needs to change. But asking “why?” more often helps us distinguish what is worth preserving from what needs to evolve to make room for what matters.

Yours truly,

MSquared

Melissa Gomez is a Brooklyn native and seasoned fundraising professional with more than 18 years of experience rooted in empathy, strategy, and mission‑driven leadership. She currently serves as Senior Director of Development at Fiver Children’s Foundation, overseeing all fundraising and marketing initiatives. Melissa is an alum of Youth Inc.’s Rise Academy for Leaders of Color and serves on the AFP NYC board, where she co‑chairs the Professional Advancement Committee and contributes to the Audit and IDEA Committees.

A new mom after a long IUI/IVF journey, she is passionate about advocating for equitable workplace policies for women and caregivers. Outside of work, Melissa enjoys music, travel, writing, and wrestling, remains a loyal Knicks fan, and proudly reps the BeyHive. She lives in the northeast Bronx with her husband, Cecilio, and daughter, Lively.

Melissa McLeod (she/her) is the National Director of Strategic Partnerships at Summer Search, where she leads institutional fundraising strategy and team across a national portfolio. A first-generation Jamaican American and first-generation college graduate, she brings over a decade of experience in nonprofit leadership, revenue growth, and cross-sector collaboration. Her career spans public health, housing, youth development, and food justice, giving her a grounded understanding of the structural barriers communities face and what it takes to move resources toward them. She holds a Master of Public Health from CUNY and a Certificate in Community Leadership and Social Change from the Institute for Nonprofit Practice. Outside of work, she loves travel, global motorsport, and is currently learning Italian.

by Ally Orlando
Senior Copywriter, DonorPerfect

While GivingTuesday may be the best-known giving day, it is far from the only opportunity for nonprofits to rally supporters around a shared purpose.

A giving day can center on an awareness date, a local cause, a community tradition, or a moment unique to your mission. What matters is that it gives people a clear reason to act—and your organization a focused opportunity to build relationships.

A giving day is typically a 24-hour fundraising campaign held on or around a specific date. It may take place online, in person, or through a combination of both. While the condensed timeline creates urgency, the value of a giving day extends beyond the funds raised.

With the right strategy, a giving day can help you reach new donors, reengage lapsed supporters, mobilize volunteers and advocates, and learn which messages inspire your community. Here is how to turn that single day of generosity into lasting momentum.

1. Start with what you already have

A focused campaign that your team can easily execute will build more donor trust than an ambitious plan you can’t sustain.

Tip: Begin by auditing the resources already available to your team.

Consider your event-management tools, donation forms, email and text capabilities, social media channels, reporting features, and staff capacity. Then choose a campaign format that fits.

For example, a lean fundraising team might run a virtual campaign with scheduled emails, a customized donation page, and social media updates. Bigger teams might add peer-to-peer fundraising, a livestream, volunteer activities, or an in-person event.

2. Let past performance guide your goals

Even if this is your first giving day, your previous campaigns contain useful clues. Review comparable appeals to identify which communication channels, messages, audiences, and giving methods performed best.

Tip: Look at variables such as the time of year, type of solicitation, appeal theme, average gift, donor response, and cost.

Use those findings to set specific goals for dollars raised, donors acquired, volunteers recruited, event participation, or return on investment.

The goal is to define what success means for your organization and establish benchmarks you can use to improve the campaign next year.

3. Give every supporter a meaningful role

Giving days work well because they concentrate attention around a shared cause. That makes them ideal for engaging people whose support may not begin with a donation.

Tip: Think beyond the traditional categories of small, major, one-time, and recurring donors.

Your giving day audience may also include volunteers, advocates, community partners, lapsed donors, prospects, beneficiaries, and people connected to your supporters.

Offer several ways to participate:

●       Donate

●       Volunteer

●       Share a story

●       Invite a friend

●       Contact a community leader

●       Create a peer-to-peer fundraiser

●       Amplify campaign updates

These actions recognize that generosity includes time and influence as well as money.

4. Personalize without creating more work

Use the information in your donor database to create a few purposeful audience segments and tailor the message or call to action for each.

For example, invite dedicated supporters to become ambassadors, ask volunteers to share the campaign with their networks, welcome lapsed donors back with an impact update, and introduce prospects to the people or programs their participation will support.

Tip: Personalization should continue after someone acts.

Record how each person participated and use that information to send a relevant acknowledgment. A volunteer, advocate, first-time donor, and longtime supporter should not all receive the same follow-up.

Automation makes this manageable. Schedule campaign reminders in advance and use triggered receipts, thank-you messages, tasks, and welcome communications so timely stewardship does not depend on your team manually tracking every interaction.

5. Measure the relationships behind the revenue

The total raised matters, but it does not tell the whole story. A giving day can reveal who is ready to deepen their involvement and which strategies are worth repeating.

Track metrics such as:

●       New-donor conversion

●       Average gift amount

●       Gifts by hour, channel, segment, or location

●       Email opens and clicks

●       Volunteer participation

●       Peer-to-peer activity

●       Donor retention after the campaign

Then review the results by audience:

●       Which message moved first-time donors to give?

●       Which supporters recruited others?

●       Which volunteers became donors—or donors became volunteers?

●       Who might be ready for a recurring gift or a larger contribution?

Tip: Create a follow-up plan before the giving day begins.

Thank participants quickly, report what the community accomplished, and provide a next step that matches each person’s engagement. Continue sharing progress in the weeks and months ahead so supporters understand that their involvement mattered after the campaign clock expired.

Make one day part of a bigger strategy

A successful giving day does more than create a temporary spike in donations. It gives your organization a reason to listen, experiment, and invite more people into your mission.

When you plan around your capacity, leverage your existing data, welcome different forms of generosity, and follow up personally, 24 hours can produce insights and relationships that strengthen fundraising all year.

Ready to plan your giving day? For additional steps, tools, and strategies, download Your Complete Guide to Planning & Running a Successful Event, a free guide created by DonorPerfect fundraising experts.

At DonorPerfect, Ally develops research-driven resources to help nonprofit professionals strengthen donor engagement and fundraising communications. She specializes in translating nonprofit trends and best practices into practical campaign strategies.

by Adam M. Doyno, MPA, CFRE - Executive Director and Chief Development Officer, CUNY School of Public Health Foundation

A brief LinkedIn search reveals an unusually active market for chief development officers across New York. At the time of writing, bedrock organizations including United Way of New York City, Sesame Workshop, New York Public Radio, HELP USA, Partnership with Children, and many others are seeking senior fundraising leadership. Executive turnover is inevitable, and every transition has its own circumstances. But the concentration of open positions raises a question our profession should confront: Why has sustained fundraising leadership become so difficult to achieve?

Today's chief development officer operates amid extraordinary uncertainty. Changes in federal funding are pressuring nonprofit business models. Federal actions targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion have affected organizations and programs. Political attitudes toward many communities nonprofits exist to serve have shifted. Changes to federal tax policy are altering longstanding benefits surrounding charitable giving and endowments. Fundraisers are being asked to raise more private capital as other revenue sources become less certain, sometimes while representing missions that have themselves become politically contested.

The underlying fundraising market presents another challenge. American charitable giving reached a record $617.2 billion in 2025, yet the number of donors declined 3.6 percent, continuing a downward trend that began in 2021. Overall donor retention was just 43.3 percent. Earlier 2025 data showed that donors giving between $1 and $100—57 percent of all donors—declined by 11.1 percent.

We are, in other words, raising more money from fewer people while retaining fewer than half of prior-year donors.

Yet expectations for fundraising growth have hardly diminished. Boards need balanced budgets. CEOs need resources to sustain and expand programs. Organizations need major gifts, institutional support, campaigns, annual giving, and new donors. The chief development officer sits at the intersection of those pressures, responsible for generating increasingly consequential revenue in an increasingly complicated environment.

The most current research - from 2022 - suggests the picture is more complicated than the oft-repeated claim that fundraisers leave every 18 months. Research from Indiana University’s Lilly Family School of Philanthropy found that U.S. fundraisers reported a mean tenure of 3.6 years in their current positions and a median tenure of two years, and 20 percent said they intended to leave their current organization within the following year.

More troubling is what we do not know. There appears to be no current, widely cited national dataset focused specifically on chief development officer tenure, turnover, vacancy duration, reasons for departure, or the organizational conditions associated with retention. For a role responsible for one of the nonprofit sector’s most consequential functions, that lack of data should concern us. We cannot meaningfully diagnose a leadership retention problem—or distinguish ordinary executive mobility from a systemic problem—without measuring it.

Fundraising is a long-term enterprise. Donor relationships mature over years. Major gift pipelines require sustained cultivation. Institutional partnerships depend upon trust. High-performing development teams require investment and stability. When boards respond to short-term revenue pressure by repeatedly changing fundraising leadership, they risk disrupting the relationships and strategies that underpin future revenue.

Patience, therefore, is not an excuse for poor performance; it is part of responsible governance. Boards should expect clear strategies, measurable progress, and accountability. They should also assess whether pipelines are growing, relationships are deepening, retention is improving, board members are becoming more engaged, and the infrastructure necessary for sustainable philanthropy is being built. Before concluding that the fundraiser is the problem, organizational leaders should ask whether they have created the conditions necessary for fundraising success.

The consequences of instability extend beyond today's revenue. They threaten tomorrow's leadership.

Fundraising remains, in important ways, an apprenticeship profession. Experienced leaders teach younger professionals how to cultivate donors, navigate difficult conversations, work with board members, develop strategy, and exercise judgment that no textbook or webinar can fully impart. When senior fundraising leadership continually turns over, that developmental chain is interrupted. Emerging professionals lose mentors, organizations lose institutional knowledge, and the profession weakens its own leadership pipeline.

If younger fundraisers see senior roles characterized by extraordinary expectations, insufficient resources, organizational impatience, and short tenure, we should not assume they will aspire to those positions—or be prepared to assume them when the opportunity arrives. We cannot build the next generation of fundraising leadership without sustaining the current one.

AFP Global advocates on federal charitable giving policy, invests in research, supports mentorship and scholarships, and regularly collects data about the fundraising workforce. But we still lack contemporary research focused specifically on the tenure and turnover of chief development officers. That is an evidence gap our profession should no longer accept.

We need a study of senior fundraising leadership: how long CDOs stay, why they leave, how long positions remain vacant, what organizational conditions predict retention, and what turnover costs organizations in lost relationships, stalled pipelines, staff departures, and revenue. AFP-NYC can help bring CEOs, trustees, search firms, and fundraisers into that work and translate the findings into better practice.

Research alone, of course, will not retain fundraising leaders. Organizations will have to act on what it tells us. Boards and CEOs should examine whether their expectations, resources, governance, and timelines actually create the conditions in which fundraising leaders can succeed. Fundraisers themselves should be willing to identify the practices that drive talented colleagues from organizations—and the ones that persuade them to stay.

The first step, however, is knowing the scope of the problem. At a moment when nonprofits need private philanthropy more than ever, we should know whether the leaders responsible for generating it are being given a reasonable chance to succeed. And if they are not, our profession should be prepared not merely to document that reality, but to change it. This is our moment to study and understand the problem, and then to lead in creating a solution. 

Adam M. Doyno, CFRE, is the Founding Executive Director of the CUNY SPH Foundation and the Inaugural Chief Development Officer of the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, where since 2018 he has built and led the school’s comprehensive fundraising enterprise. He has been a driving force in advancing CUNY SPH’s growth as an independent, accredited, and nationally recognized public health institution, securing philanthropic support that expands access and opportunity for students and communities across New York City. Previously, he held senior development roles at FPWA, the National Kidney Foundation, and United Way of New York City, leading donor-centered strategies across local and national platforms. Adam is an active nonprofit leader, serving on the Board of Directors of the Association of Fundraising Professionals–NYC Chapter, the Harmony Health Foundation, and the 125th Street Business Improvement District, and has been recognized for his contributions to the field with multiple professional honors.

by Scott Rosenkrans
Head of AI Growth, EverTrue

Every fundraising team has run a wealth screen. Fewer have asked the question that actually matters: not who can give, but who's ready to.

That distinction is where most prospect research programs quietly stall. A wealth screen hands you a list ranked by net worth, real estate, and business affiliations. It's a real starting point. But it doesn't tell you whether that constituent has ever made a charitable gift, what causes they care about, or how likely they are to respond when your organization actually makes the ask. Capacity tells you the ceiling. It doesn't tell you who's close to reaching it.

The programs pulling ahead right now have made a shift: from capacity-first research to behavior- and intent-first research. The tool behind that shift is predictive modeling, and it's more accessible than most teams assume. It doesn't require a data science team, a six-figure build, or a multi-year implementation. It requires the right data, the right model, and a clear sense of what your program needs answered.

The Four Questions Worth Asking

Here's a fast test for your current research infrastructure. Can your team answer these four questions with a reliable, data-driven yes, not a guess?

1. Who in our non-donor pool is most likely to make a first gift?
2. Which first-time donors are we at risk of losing before they give again?
3. Who in our current donor base has real room to give significantly more?
4. Who should we be cultivating for a recurring giving program?

If those feel hard to answer with confidence, that's not a failure of research instinct. It's a tooling gap. Most teams are working from capacity scores, tribal knowledge, and whatever the CRM happens to surface that day.

This matters more than portfolio size. Gift officers are already carrying more names than they can meaningfully work. The challenge was never generating more activity. It's making sure the activity that already exists is pointed at the right people. A researcher who walks into a portfolio review with "these 40 names scored highest on our upgrade model, and here's why" is having a fundamentally different conversation than one who sorted by capacity and flagged the top quartile.

National Models vs. Custom Models

Predictive modeling sounds like it belongs to enterprise teams with in-house data scientists. For most organizations, it isn't.

National models are built by a vendor using giving behavior across anonymized data from thousands of organizations, then applied to your file against those broader patterns. No custom data science work required, and the lift over capacity-only screening is real.

Custom models are built from your organization's own giving and engagement history enriched with external philanthropic data. They reflect your donors specifically, and the accuracy ceiling is higher, but so are the data, financial and time investments.

For most teams, particularly those new to predictive modeling, national models are the right place to start: accessible, fast to deploy, and a meaningful upgrade in prioritization without the complexity of a custom build. A file with four years of clean gift transactions and a constituent list is enough to run most national models. You don't need perfect data. You need enough of it.

What This Looks Like in Practice

A global museum had segmented its year-end appeal into two audiences, visitors and concert attendees, for years. The team wondered whether that split reflected how donors actually engaged, or whether it was just an assumption no one had tested. They built a predictive model against four years of appeal data, scored roughly 25,000 constituents, and surfaced donors already in their database who'd never been part of a prior appeal, then unified the messaging around a single story instead of two.

A two-person foundation supporting a public school district had a goal that usually comes with a research team attached: shifting from event-driven annual giving to a multi-million dollar endowment. By layering giving history, engagement, and capacity signals onto their existing list, they found where the real opportunity already lived, small past gifts included, and walked into their board with a confident silent-phase strategy. No new hire required.

The common thread in both stories isn't "we found donors we never knew existed." It's "we found donors who were already there. We just didn't know to call them."

Where to Start

Don't try to implement every model at once. Pick the goal in front of you right now, an event, a lapsing donor problem, a leadership giving pipeline, and start with the model built for it. Get comfortable with the score, build it into the workflow, and let the next question tell you what to add.

Capacity tells you the ceiling. Predictive modeling tells you who's ready to reach it. The organizations doing both well aren't guessing anymore, they're making decisions based on evidence.

Curious what predictive modeling could surface in your own database? Request a demo of EverTrue and see which of your constituents are already ready to give, you just don't know it yet.

Want the full breakdown, including the four questions, the model-by-model decision framework, and a checklist for evaluating predictive modeling vendors? Download the complete guide, Beyond the Wealth Screen.

Scott Rosenkrans is Head of AI Growth at EverTrue, where he helps nonprofits apply AI and analytics to strengthen donor engagement and drive mission impact. With nearly a decade of experience designing predictive and generative AI products for the nonprofit sector, Scott specializes in translating complex technology into strategy, training, and services that deepen—not replace—human relationships. He’s a Certified AI Governance Professional (AIGP), co-host of the Fundraising.AI Podcast, and co-author of Nonprofit AI: A Comprehensive Guide to Implementing Artificial Intelligence for Social Good.

by Karen Houghton
CEO & Founder, Infinite Giving

Nonprofits are doing some of the most essential, life-changing work in our communities. And yet, far too many are operating in survival mode.

I’ve seen this from every angle: running my own nonprofit, supporting hundreds of organizations during the pandemic, and now watching leaders navigate today’s reality of budget cuts, increased demand, and declining donations. One truth has become clear:

Passion alone can’t fund sustainability. Money fuels the mission.

Nonprofit financial leadership looks different in today’s market than it did just two years ago. Funding cuts, drops in donations, and dwindling grant opportunities have all left many organizations in a scarcity mindset.

For nonprofit leaders, this raises an important question: is your money working as hard as your mission?

To help organizations think more holistically about financial resilience, Infinite Giving developed the RISE Framework, a practical approach to strengthening your funding model in any economic climate.

RISE stands for Raise, Invest, Steward, Endow.

Below, we provide you with a self-assessment of this new financial framework to see where your nonprofit may have potential to better fund your mission for the long-term.

R - Raise

Sustainable funding starts with how you raise capital.

Modern donors don’t just give cash. They give appreciated stock, crypto, and grants from donor-advised funds (DAFs). In fact, non-cash gifts are often some of the most tax-efficient and generous gives donors can make.

If you aren’t equipped to accept them, you may be unintentionally limiting generosity.

Self-assessment question: Do you currently have the technology and internal processes in place to easily accept non-cash gifts like stock, crypto, and DAF grants?

Raising well means removing friction and meeting donors where they are financially.

I - Invest

Once funds are raised, what happens next?

For many nonprofits, excess cash sits in a checking or savings account earning minimal interest. In a falling-rate environment, that approach becomes even less strategic.

Thoughtful investing doesn’t mean taking unnecessary risk. It means aligning portions of your reserves with time horizon, liquidity needs, and return objectives.

Idle cash slowly loses opportunity. Invested cash can support future programming, growth initiatives, or strategic stability.

Self-assessment question: Are your cash reserves segmented by time horizon (short-, mid-, and long-term), or is most of your capital sitting in low-yield bank accounts?

Investment strategy should reflect intention, not inertia.

S - Steward

Stewardship is more than thanking donors. It includes how you manage and protect the resources entrusted to you.

Strong stewardship requires clarity around liquidity needs, board oversight, and an Investment Policy Statement (IPS) that guides decision-making.

When markets shift, organizations without a framework often react emotionally. Organizations with a policy respond strategically.

Self-assessment question: Do you have a board-approved Investment Policy Statement that clearly defines liquidity needs, risk tolerance, and oversight responsibilities?

Financial stewardship is leadership in action.

E - Endow

Finally, resilient organizations think beyond the next campaign.

Endowment structures, whether true endowments, board-designated (quasi) endowments, or term funds, create long-term sustainability. They allow your mission to generate funding from invested capital, not just annual fundraising cycles.

Endowment strategy is no longer reserved for billion-dollar institutions. Smaller and mid-sized nonprofits now have more accessible tools to build sustainable funding engines.

Self-assessment question: Have you explored whether an endowment or board-designated reserve could strengthen your long-term financial resilience?

Endowment thinking shifts your organization from surviving year to year to building generational impact.

Rise With Intention

The RISE Framework isn’t about chasing returns. It’s about aligning financial strategy with mission sustainability.

In today’s rate environment, leaving capital idle may feel safe, but it can quietly limit future impact. Our team at Infinite Giving is here to help your nonprofit:

Raise strategically
Invest intentionally
Steward responsibly
Endow sustainably

Because fundraising keeps you going, but funding, done well, helps your mission last.

A Final Word to Nonprofit Leaders

You are the bridge to a better financial future, not only for your organization but also for the communities you serve. And you don’t have to navigate this alone.

My mission is to give nonprofits the tools, encouragement, and perspective to build something stable, scalable, and truly sustainable so your mission can thrive for generations.

Infinite Giving is here to help. Download a sample chapter of Funding Your Mission. This is a practical financial guide for nonprofit leaders who are ready to stop surviving and start building lasting impact. We offer a fresh, mission-aligned framework for how nonprofits can steward resources with strategy, confidence, and clarity.

Or if you’d like to set up a time to dig into your fundraising and financial strategy, get started here.

Thank you for all the amazing work you do each and every day to help build better communities, and ultimately, a better world.

Karen Houghton is the bestselling author of Funding Your Mission and the CEO of Infinite Giving, a financial technology and Registered Investment Advisory firm serving nonprofits nationwide. A former nonprofit executive and board member, Karen brings firsthand operational experience to advising mission-driven leaders on reserves, governance, and strategic growth.

With a background in both nonprofit leadership and venture capital, Karen brings a rare blend of heart and strategy to financial stewardship. She is passionate about democratizing access to wealth-building tools and guiding mission-driven organizations toward long-term financial health. As a trusted advisor and advocate, Karen is reshaping how nonprofits think about money as a powerful resource for growing impact. 

Under Karen’s leadership, Infinite Giving has been recognized for world-changing financial technology by Fast Company and received multiple industry awards for innovation.

by Gary Weinberg
President, DM Pros

At The Bridge Conference in Washington, D.C., I attended a presentation focused on modern giving pathways presented by Woodrow Rosenbaum (Chief Data Officer at GivingTuesday) and Steve Froehlich (Chief Customer Growth Officer at GoFundMe).

The research presented was fascinating. While the fundraising sector faces ongoing challenges with donor retention and small-dollar decline, GivingTuesday’s data reveals that generosity itself isn't dying—it's evolving. People are as eager to support causes as ever, but fundraisers must shift their approach to capture this potential by:

• Looking beyond traditional audiences
• Embracing the donor mindset of the next generation

The opportunities to expand the base of donors are clear — fundraisers simply need to adapt their strategies to capture them.

Tapping Untapped Potential: Strategies for Growth

Rosenbaum outlined three high-impact strategies to unlock what GivingTuesday’s research projects to be $52 billion in underutilized donor support:

• Deseasonalize Giving: GivingTuesday proved that donors respond enthusiastically when invited to give outside the standard year-end crunch. Relying strictly on Q4 campaigns leaves massive potential on the table. Extending solicitations, giving days, and strategic touchpoints across the entire calendar could unlock an estimated $23 billion in additional giving.
• Expand Recurring Giving: Currently, only 7.9% of donors participate in recurring giving programs and only 2% of donors are acquired as recurring givers. GivingTuesday research indicates that increasing the share of new donors who sign up on recurring schedules by just 5% could yield an additional $10 billion, while a 10% increase could generate $10 billion to $20 billion.
• Broaden Engagement Beyond the "Usual Suspects": Traditional acquisition models tend to solicit the same core demographics repeatedly, leaving vast populations untouched. GivingTuesday’s GivingPulse survey data found that 10% of people who aren’t currently being solicited would give if they were invited. Broader engagement across these groups could increase total donations by $19 billion to $46 billion.

Understanding and Engaging Gen Z

Twenty years ago, there was a running joke about engaging younger generations:

    “We need younger donors. How can I get a Millennial to donate to our cause?”

    “Wait for her to turn 55.”

The assumption was that life stage—becoming an empty-nester with disposable income—was the primary driver of giving (and that the majority of donors are women). While life-stage is still very significant, Gen Z (today’s younger generation) has fundamentally different giving habits and motivational drivers than past generations.

To capture these donors and build a sustainable pipeline, fundraisers must adapt to how younger generations approach philanthropy. Froehlich shared key insights into Gen Z’s unique behaviors, busting the myth that younger demographics are disengaged:

What Gen Z Is Telling Us

• 71% gave in some form (monetary, item, or advocacy) in the past week.
• 57% say family or peers directly shape their giving decisions.
• They are 10 times more likely than Boomers to share their donations on social media.
• 91% of Gen Z who give on community fundraising platforms like GoFundMe, also give to registered nonprofits—and they are 16% more likely to give than peers who don’t use crowdfunding platforms.

The Gen Z Pathway: See  Share  Fundraise  Give

Engaging Gen Z requires adapting to their social-first ecosystem:

• See  Share: Gen Z often shares a cause with their personal network before making a financial contribution.
• • Tactic: Ensure every campaign is frictionless to discover and share on social media.
• Share  Fundraise: When supporters share, they mobilize their networks.
• • Tactic: Provide turn-key peer-to-peer tools that empower supporters to rally their personal circles around your mission.
• Fundraise  Give  Repeat: Community fundraising acts as an entry point. Gen Z users who engage for causes on platforms like GoFundMe are primed to become repeat donors to registered nonprofits over time.

Designing Experiences to Tap Gen Z Generosity

To turn Gen Z's natural habits into long-term organizational support, nonprofits should focus on three execution rules:

1. Build for the Full Spectrum of Generosity: Gen Z engages through sharing, digital storytelling, peer-to-peer fundraising, livestreams, and advocacy—not just traditional donation forms.
2. Reduce Friction Across Every Action: Community-powered fundraising should be fast to start, flexible to shape, and easy to join. Every extra step or field creates donor drop-off.
3. Create Seamless Pathways Between Ways of Giving: Supporters move fluidly between helping individuals, mobilizing peers, and supporting formal organizations. Your digital experiences should feel unified rather than siloed.

Practical Takeaways For You To Apply Today

To turn these high-level research insights into actionable fundraising wins, here are a few immediate strategies to test in your upcoming campaigns:

1. Deseasonalization Tactics

• Keep Asking in the Summer: Don't go silent in July. Donors remain engaged online year-round if given a reason to respond.
• Create Custom "Giving Days": Anchor mid-year campaigns to mission-aligned calendar events—such as Earth Day for environmental groups, "Clear the Shelters" for animal welfare organizations, or a "Summer Hunger" appeal in June when school meal programs pause.

2. Recurring Giving Growth

• Make Recurring Gift Asks Part of Your Acquisition Effort: Test direct mail and digital acquisition programs by featuring monthly giving as the primary option—or even the default/only option. Use a simple, compelling message showing how reliable, ongoing support fuels your mission. Many animal welfare organizations use this tactic effectively in Direct Response Television (DRTV) campaigns ("We need 1,000 new partners to commit $19 a month by midnight...)
• Layer Strategic Upgrades for Active Sustainers: Don't leave active recurring donors on autopilot. Ask your monthly sustainers for a one-time extra gift twice a year, and invite them to upgrade their monthly giving amount annually.

3. Broadening Engagement

• Identify Overlooked Audiences: Look beyond traditional wealth scores. Community groups, volunteers, local churchgoers, and event participants represent warm, highly engaged pools waiting to be invited into donor relationships.
• Expand Direct Mail & Digital Lists: If you rent acquisition lists, test geographic areas you normally don’t solicit and interest-based pools that fall outside your traditional solicitation footprint.

4. Making Gen Z Engagement Fun & Easy – Empower Your Supporters to Become Champions For Your Mission

• Event Selfies & Digital Postcards: Provide event attendees with a digital frame or photo booth setup so they can text or post a branded selfie ("I'm at [Event Name] supporting [Cause]!").
• Statement-of-Support Forwarding: Create a 1-sentence "Why I Care" image card on your donation thank-you page that givers can immediately post to their Instagram Stories or text to three friends.

Looking Ahead

Organizations must think outside the traditional direct-response box to meet donors where they already gather and give. The opportunities to broaden your donor base, build recurring revenue, and engage the next generation are vast—you simply need to take the first step.

Resources:

GivingPulse Reports: https://www.givingpulse.givingtuesday.org/

GoFundMe Gen-Z Nonprofit Report: https://pro.gofundme.com/c/resources/gen-z-nonprofit-report/

Gary Weinberg is an individual giving specialist with over 35 years of leadership experience in direct mail and direct response fundraising communications. He takes a holistic approach to development, managing the complete donor lifecycle—from integrated digital and direct mail solicitations to meaningful acknowledgment and long-term stewardship.

A dedicated leader in the philanthropic sector, Gary serves on the Board of Directors for AFP-NYC, where he chairs the Government Relations Committee—advocating for charitable giving policies in Albany and Washington, D.C.—and contributes to the Chapter’s Professional Advancement Committee. He also serves on nonprofit boards ranging from the Lehman Center for the Performing Arts in the Bronx to the Hastings High School Alumni Association.

As a third-generation direct mail professional, Gary affectionately refers to himself as "the son of a son of a mailer."