Key Trends in Philanthropy for 2025 - Lisa Gregory
With 2025 well underway, the following articles and reports provide a snapshot of key trends in philanthropy for the coming year.

Fundraising in an Election Year
The end of the calendar year is a busy and often chaotic time for development professionals. Adding a dynamic, contentious, and high-stakes presidential election only heightens the chaos and stress we may feel as we strive to hit year-end fundraising goals. Here are some resources to help you have a successful—and a little less-stressful—fundraising season this fall

Tapping into Peer-to-Peer Fundraising
For many nonprofits in the greater Boston area, fundraising for the Boston Marathon is in full swing. Last year alone, peer-to-peer fundraising for this historic event brought in $40.3 million to nonprofits in our area. But peer-to-peer (P2P) fundraising—where supporters ask friends and family to donate to a cause they are invested in—is a strategy nonprofits can utilize year-round. The following resources provide insights into P2P fundraising best practices.

November Pulse of Fundraising: AI and Fundraising
November kicks off one of the busiest times of year in development. As our never-ending to-do lists keep growing, there has been increased buzz around the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in our sector. Is there a place for ChatGPT in a world where relationships are king? Check out the following resources that explore AI in fundraising, the exciting areas for growth, and things of which to be wary. And for an even deeper dive into this topic, don’t forget to register for our December program, Unlocking the Potential: AI in Fundraising- Exploring Possibilities and Navigating Challenges.

Mental Health Awareness in Fundraising
In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, May’s Pulse of Fundraising highlights articles that discuss burnout in our profession and provide some strategies to address it. Make sure to take some time to check in with yourself this month and reach out if you need help: https://namimass.org/resources/. 

 

Fundraising During Challenging Financial Times
Recession and inflation loom large over our work these days. How can we, as fundraisers and nonprofit leaders, prepare our organizations and our donors to weather economic challenges? These four articles offer insights, tips, and some much-needed reminders of the importance of our work, especially in uncertain economic times.

Four Landmark Studies that Development Professionals Should Cite for Women’s History Month
March marks Women’s History Month, a time for us to champion the diverse contributions that women have made to the charitable ecosystem and to the larger movement for equality, justice, and power. The following primary sources examine non-profit as a space increasingly belonging to women and offer several citable insights about the philanthropic sector.

 

Navigating Difficult Conversations

As development professionals, we’re no strangers to having challenging, sensitive conversations­—with donors, organizational leaders, board members, co-workers, and others. The events of recent years have brought increased attention to a host of complex issues surrounding race and racism, inequality, reproductive rights, politics, and more. These articles offer useful tips on navigating conversations that veer into difficult topics. 

Early EOY Giving Results

As we kick off the new year, fundraisers around the country are reviewing their end of year results and evaluating where there was success – and where there are opportunities for growth.  Data shows that most nonprofits, although seeing a slight increase in revenue, are noticing a drop in donor retention.  These articles delve deeper into this idea of “dollars up, donors down” and encourage nonprofits to consider how to innovate in order to retain – or win back – their donor base.

 

Developing a Case for Support

A case for support is a key document for any nonprofit - a straightforward, engaging, and inspiring way to communicate the most important aspects of your work with your donors, trustees, employees, and funders. Whether it is developed for a specific campaign or to support an annual fund, a case for support helps to communicate your mission, vision, values, and goals. If you are ready to jump in to write (or perhaps update) a case for support, here are some resources to get you started.

How much of an impact will inflation make on nonprofits this year?
As we look to end-of-year giving as a critically important time for philanthropic gifts, nonprofits everywhere are gauging how inflation will impact the bottom line. Although only time will tell whether the current state of the economy will translate to fewer donations raised, organizations and their leaders are looking at clues from the past to help understand what to expect when they close out this calendar year. Each of these articles gives different perspectives, insights and suggestions on how best to navigate the remaining few weeks of 2022. 

Using Industry Reports to Guide Philanthropy Strategy
Industry reports can inform our fundraising strategy as we go in to a new year by providing a compiled and analyzed industry research that give a snapshot of the current state of philanthropy. This year’s reports assess the “new normal” for philanthropy after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, showing us which philanthropic trends have endured and those new trends nonprofit trends fundraisers will want to track. These 2022 reports give special focus to gift planning, grant distribution, and new digital fundraising trends.

 

Year-End Fundraising Strategies: Are you, like many other development professionals, wondering why it is hard to meet your forecasted targets? With the exponential rise of costs in goods, services and travel, does it leave our benevolent donors with less to give? As we inch closer to fall, here are some fundamentals for year-end appeal story-telling and the importance of developing deeper relationships with donors through volunteerism. 

We all need it, but, despite our best intentions, don’t always get it: truly, completely unplugged time away from work. Whether it’s an unmovable deadline, colleagues who ignore our OOO message, or the undeniably strong urge to take just a quick peek at our work email, it’s hard to disconnect. With summer now in full swing, we’ve compiled a few articles about how to better unplug and unwind—and why it’s so important.

Ensuring that your nonprofit has a robust donor relations program is paramount for overall engagement of your donor base and increased support at your organization.  With so many competing priorities of a fundraiser’s time, stewardship can often be furthest from our minds. However, these articles will help you find ways to carve out time, demonstrate impact and provide helpful suggestions on how donor relations can be incorporated in all that you do.

Effective leaders are always learning, thinking critically about what we do, why we do it, and how we can do better. No matter where you are in your leadership journey, these articles (and a podcast!) will give you something to think about, new ideas to consider, and tips for taking your leadership to the next level.

This April, we are highlighting Gift Planning. If you've wondered how to talk about or encourage your donors to consider tax-efficient ways to give or making gifts of assets, beyond cash or check, you're not alone! Especially now, as 2021 taxes are being filed, people are thinking about their financial and philanthropic goals for the year ahead, and beyond. Here are some helpful resources to help get you, your organization, and your donors thinking about planned gifts. 

In honor of Women’s History Month, the articles below highlight the increasing impact that women donors have on the philanthropic landscape.  From in-depth research on gender giving tendencies, the generational differences of donors and the best ways to engage women with your nonprofit, these resources will provide development professionals with tangible tactics to engage their donors in a more strategic and thoughtful way.

Have you been working in nonprofits for many years, searching for the illusive work/life balance? You are not alone. The additional stress from the pandemic has felt like walking on a tightrope. Some folks are balancing parenthood and home responsibilities with work from home jobs, enduring lockdowns and homeschooling, all with the ever-present threat of catching an illness with unknown outcomes. As the empathetic individuals you usually find working for nonprofits, we also tend to take the stress of our mission home with us. Managing budget shortfalls and addressing low staffing  issues on nights and weekends has compounded our stress and anxiety over the past few years. The following articles have attempted to address these issues and help us ease into 2022 with tools to achieve the balance we seek.