My favorite nonprofit digital report is out (thank you M+R!) and I’ve had a fun time diving in to all the data! Below are my takeaways including expert advice, practical tips and best practices you can use at your organization. I have split this post into sections related to email, online fundraising, social media, website and more.
Important to note: The data points below are for the many nonprofits they surveyed. If it says “better/worse than last year” they are looking at long-term data from this year’s participants. But you can look at the data below as close to representative of the sector. Not exact but close enough for us to learn from it.
Online revenue
Data point: Online donations increased by an average of 15% in 2025. Public media nonprofits (+37%), hunger/poverty organizations (+37%), human rights organizations (+16%) saw the biggest increase.
Takeaway: Given cuts to federal funding and the economy, it’s no wonder that the above three nonprofit types raised more than average. Additionally, it’s great to see people giving more online! People answered the call and met the need.
Which leads me to two very important conclusions:
- When times are tough, don’t go silent! Let your audience know what’s happening, how you’re being affected by potential cuts, rising costs and more. People WANT to do good. Don’t prevent them from the joy of philanthropy.
- Online giving doesn’t just come through emails. People go online via text, social media posts, direct mail that includes a prompt to give online (example: a QR code), media appearances which list your website and more. Does your nonprofit have a diversified marketing portfolio to help your fundraising succeed?
Monthly giving
Data point: Monthly giving accounted for 27% of all online revenue in 2025
Takeaway: It boggles my mind why so many nonprofits don’t have a recurring giving strategy and program! It’s a reliable source of income. Retention can be up to 90%. It’s a way of giving that definitely appeals to younger generations. Monthly givers are excellent prospects for larger gifts and gifts in wills.
And yet…
Make all the excuses you want. Want to grow your organization’s revenue? Want more people giving more often? Get moving on monthly giving!
Not sure how? Email me. Let’s plan it out and get your monthly gift program up and running. Sooner rather than later.
Retention
Data point: In 2025 new donors accounted for 31% of online revenue. But of those who gave online in 2024, retention was… 24%
Takeaway: One third of giving was new donors? Great! That’s a tribute to working hard on acquisition and reaching new audiences. Fantastic.
But oy, that retention number suuuuuuuuuucks! Acquisition costs 5-10 times more than retention, which is why you should concentrate your efforts on keeping current donors. That does NOT mean abandoning acquisition efforts! But it does mean diving your money, time and effort accordingly. You’ll get a lot more out of retaining current donors.
In numbers: If in 2024 you worked hard and brought in 500 new donors, only 120 of those gave again in 2025. You lost 380 donors!!! You worked hard just to find them, communicate with them, encourage them to give and then… you let em go. 🤷♂️
Exercise for your organization: Have your 2025 year-end donors heard from you since December? If yes, how many times? Once? Twice? Not enough! Consistent and constant communications keeps them involved and giving. Stories, impact, data. Get it in front of them. Make them feel good about the gift they gave. It’ll be remembered the next time you ask.
“They are not one of your donors. You are one of their charities.” – Fundraising expert Mark Phillips
December: 🤑🤑🤑
Data point: 37% of all online revenue was raised in December. 10% of all online revenue was raised in the last week of December, 4% overall on December 31.
Takeaway: December continues to be a great month for fundraising! Granted, Giving Tuesday was in December last year and that might skew the numbers a little. But the fact is that December remains a month of giving.
Which leads me to ask: Do you have a year-end plan? Do you map out your direct mail send, emails, social media posts, website content and more?
Last year I helped an organization with their year-end emails. Their goal was to raise $35,000. They raised $50,000. Why? Because they were better prepared and they sent more than one email in December. In fact, they sent FOURTEEN emails during December!
Why do I mention that? Inbox visibility is a huge deal. If you don’t show up often in someone’s email inbox, they forget you exist. The above organization decided to switch up tactics and send more emails at year end. The result? More revenue. In fact, a donor saw their email in his inbox and it reminded him to give his annual gift of $5,000. Didn’t even need to open the email!
I’ve worked on year-end campaigns where the ROI was 400%. They spent $25,000 on a full campaign (direct mail, email, social, phone calls) and brought in $125,000 in one month.
December can be a very profitable month for your organization. But only if you plan ahead.
Email I: How often
Data point: Email accounted for 11% of all online revenue. Nonprofits received $54 for every 1,000 fundraising emails sent.
Takeaway: Billions of dollars annually is donated because of email. It is a great platform for both fundraising and marketing. You can build relationships, engage people, show how their gift is making an impact, mobilize them to give and much more.
But here’s the thing: Sending one email per campaign won’t cut it. It’s gonna take multiple emails, different angles, great storytelling and following email best practices to ensure you raise what you need via email.
Can you raise more than $54 for every 1,000 fundraising emails you’re sending? Absofreakinlutely! But you gotta have a strategy, know how to connect with people and encourage them to give.
And it definitely means sending more than one email per campaign. It’s gonna take a bunch of emails to help you reach your goals. And when the Board Chair/CEO complains that you’re sending too many campaign emails, show them this data point and ask them if they want to hit the fundraising target or not.
Want to help your organization grow and thrive? Sign up for my weekly From Survival to Thrival enewsletter and I’ll help turn your pain points into opportunities for growth!
Email II: Taking action
Data point: Fundraising email generated a click-thru rate (CTR) of 0.59% and a response rate (people who actually took action that the email requested of them) of 0.05%. Advocacy email had a CTR of 2.3% and a response rate of 1.4%.
Takeaways:
- Fundraising: Those numbers are really low and your organization’s results should be much higher. A lot of the fundraising emails I get in my inbox emphasize “we need to raise this now” without spelling out why that amount or who will benefit. Other emails are too focused on the organization’s efforts and not how the donor is helping people in their community. The question your readers will ask when they receive your fundraising email: “So what?” Answer that question. You’ll get better results.
- Advocacy: These types of emails can do well. You should be advocating for your beneficiaries and asking your audience to do so as well. That could be on a national, regional, state, city, community level. Most important: The landing page you send email subscribers to should have all the necessary details and make it easy for people to take action. Asking them to email someone? Provide a short form for them to fill out and hit send. Asking people to make a phone call? Prepare sample text people can use during the call. People are very busy. Make it easy for them to advocate on behalf of the people you serve!
Email III: OY!
Data point: Nonprofits sent an average of 50 email messages per subscriber in 2025, with fundraising comprising 31 email messages.
Takeaway: Lemme say this from the start- I am a fan of sending MORE email, not less! (Assuming you’re not just spraying and praying but there’s a plan and the content has a purpose and value.)
I am also a fan of sending MORE fundraising emails, not fewer! People don’t read every email they receive so be prepared to send multiple emails during each fundraising campaign.
However, the ratio I’d be using is 1 out of every four emails contains a fundraising ask. Send out a weekly email? I have no problem with a once a month ask.
But when 62% of emails landing in a subscriber’s inbox are an ask, that’s not great. Subscribers will stop reading because “they’re always asking.”
You need to be sending emails with content that provides value for the reader: Impact of their gift, stories, data, educational materials. 3 out of 4 emails subscribers receive should be perceived as containing something they WANT to read and interact with. When you see email fundraising and marketing as a two-way street, when you recognize the worth in investing in what reader’s care to to see, when you help readers feel connected to the mission and work, that’s when email can bring about the best results.
Send more emails? Yes. But make sure it’s based on what readers want to read, not just what your organization wants to send out.
Desktop vs. mobile
Data point: More nonprofit website traffic came from users on mobile devices (52%) than desktop users (48%). Users on desktop devices made up the majority of donation transactions (57%) and revenue (72%).
Takeaway: Is your website mobile friendly? If not, a lot of people land on your website and leave within three seconds. That’s a LOT of money and engagement to be losing!
What’s interesting to me is the second half of the data. More people may read about you on their phone but they won’t give until they’re sitting down at their desktop/laptop. Additionally, they give higher amounts when giving from their desktop. The report doesn’t say why this is so. I have theories but I’d love to hear from you! What do you think is the reason?
Payment method
Data point: Of payment options available on donation pages, 73% of nonprofits offered PayPal, 58% offered Google Pay, 57% Apple Pay and 44% Venmo.
Takeaway: Offering only credit card as a payment option is no longer acceptable, especially to young donors. People expect to be provided with multiple payment options, allowing them to choose the method they prefer.
Wanna raise more online? Offer a variety of payment options.
Your online donation form: You’re losing money!
Data point: The conversion rate for online donation pages was 8%.
Takeaway: This sucks.
You worked hard on your emails and got 1,000 people to click and land on your online donation page. Yay! But on average, only 80 will complete the form and donate.
What happened to the other 920???!!!
I’ll tell you what happened: Your online donation form isn’t optimized for conversions. It’s missing a great banner image, a statement of why to give, what the impact of each dollar amount listed will be, has too many fields, doesn’t emphasize monthly giving, the font size is too small and… I could go on and on.
Outside of your homepage and About Us page, your online donation form is one of the most important pages on your website. But if the average is an 8% conversion rate, that means that nonprofits have a LOT of work to do to improve the online giving experience.
Think about it: 920 people came to the page, looked at the form and said “I’ll pass.” How much money are you losing because of that?!
Get that page optimized immediately!
