Giving Compass' Take:

· The author provides a list of noticeable fundraising trends in 2019 and how you and your organization can take advantage of them to further your mission. 

· How have donor-advised funds become more popular? How is the nonprofit sector changing? How can organizations work to retain more donors and build on trust and loyalty?  

· Here's more on what 2019 has for philanthropy


I view January and February as a test run of sorts, before we really embark on a new year and new resolutions. This may feel especially true as we’re still figuring out what happened in 2018. Last year we saw lower year-end fundraising results. We saw a decline in the number of donors who give in the lower to middle end of the giving range. And whether those developments have anything to do with changes to the tax law remains a question.

There are a few guides that offer a myriad of trends to watch. But, in my opinion, these are three key trends that will most affect our work.

  1. We're becoming more data-driven and technologically minded - We now have good tools that analyze a donor database to help nonprofits sharpen their approaches. Data analytics can identify those groups of current or inactive donors who are more likely to increase their engagement levels—and hopefully their gift levels. Analytics show us giving trends not just to ascertain likelihood of future gifts but also to recommend gift ask amounts and to flag donors who might be good future legacy donors.
  2. The rise of donor-advised funds - As 2017 ended, contributions to donor-advised funds (DAFs) skyrocketed like never before. According to National Philanthropic Trust’s The 2018 DAF Report, in 2017 there were 463,622 individual donor-advised funds across the country. Donors contributed $29.23 billion to these funds and used them to recommend $19.08 billion in grants to qualified charities.
  3. Focus on donor retention - This is one of my personal soapboxes. And with nonprofits on average losing almost 60 percent of their donors each year, you can understand why I’m so passionate about it.

Read the full article about fundraising trends by Barbara O'Reilly at GuideStar Blog.