Which Future Fundraising Trends Will Move the Needle for Your Mission?

With GivingTuesday in the rear-view mirror, development professionals are approaching the final lap in 2021 fundraising efforts. Despite the slow retreat of the pandemic and its economic fallout, 2021 has, for many charitable organizations, proven to be a year of generous giving. This year’s GivingTuesday results totaled $2.7 billion—a 9% boost from 2020 and an incredible 37% leap over 2019 numbers. Of course, the needs being served by non-profits and foundations are also greater, so now isn’t the time to slow down. Instead, it’s time to look toward the horizon for 2022 fundraising trends and tools for development professionals to get off to a fast start next year.

Adapting donor research to future needs

In our upcoming trend report for development professionals, we highlight four key trends that can deliver real advantages for organizations that embrace them. What are they?

1.    Donation sources shift

Giving may be on the upswing, but development professionals need to adjust their appeals for new audiences. Baby Boomers have led the way for some time, but now their shrinking numbers have left room for younger generations to take the lead. That means leveraging social media more and email less if you want to inspire Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z to act.

2.    M&A activity climbs

Two years of economic disruption, high demand for services and overlapping missions are three reasons why smaller organizations may be more open to merging with other like-minded non-profits. Such efforts will create more resilient organizations, able to adapt to the changing demands during ongoing volatility.

3.    Gaming for good grows

While it may not appeal to older generations, integrating fundraising efforts with gaming is a sure-fire way to gain visibility with younger donor prospects. Just look at the growth of Twitch, a live streaming platform for gaming video content and other online entertainment. Statista reports that “In the first quarter of 2021, the number of hours watched on Twitch reached a record 6.34 billion, which was more than twice the amount of time users spent on YouTube Gaming Live and Facebook Gaming combined.”

4.    Hybrid & remote work persists

As with other organizations, non-profits are realizing benefits from the forced hiatus from working in person. The decision to fully embrace remote work may lie in an organization’s mission. A charity that delivers services directly to their constituents still may need a brick-and-mortar location, for example. But some non-profits are realizing that they can significantly reduce overhead, while still achieving their goals, if they embrace remote work for the foreseeable future.

Want to know more about these trends? Watch here for our detailed report, plus tips for aligning donor research to make the most of them.