Ep. 178: [Part 1] The 2026 Fundraising Trends Every Nonprofit Leader Should Know
EPISODE 178
[Part 1] The 2026 Fundraising Trends Every Nonprofit Leader Should Know
About the Episode:
If you want to grow in 2026, you cannot rely on outdated playbooks or wait for a perfect case study to tell you what to do. In this two-part series, I’m breaking down the real fundraising trends I’m seeing across every organization in my ecosystem, not theory, not headlines, not generic Google wisdom. These trends are based on live data, donor behavior, digital strategy sessions, leadership conversations, and thousands of campaigns across my programs, and they’re already reshaping how nonprofits grow.
In Part 1, I cover six strategic and visibility shifts that will define the highest-performing organizations in 2026, from audience growth as a core revenue engine to the rise of laptop fundraising, human amplifiers, scrappy leader-driven content, superfan retention, and the ROI of LinkedIn thought leadership. If you want to reduce lag time, lead with clarity, and raise more with less friction, this episode provides the roadmap.
Here’s what you’ll learn:
Audience growth as a primary revenue engine for 2026
The rise of laptop fundraising and email-first digital campaigns
Short, fast “sprint” campaigns outperforming long, traditional plans
The power of human amplifiers and Social Street Teams®
Why authenticity-driven, “break the fourth wall” content converts better
Creating long-term superfans instead of one-time donors
LinkedIn is the most underutilized high-ROI visibility channel
Why clarity, action, and visibility will outperform caution in 2026
It’s not your stories—it’s how you’re telling them. If your amazing work isn’t getting the attention (and donations) it deserves, it’s time for a messaging shift. The Brave Fundraiser’s Guide guide gives you 10 done-for-you donor prompts to make your message impossible to ignore. Get it for free here! https://christinaedwards.krtra.com/t/xKuLs6tOiPZa
Christina’s Favorite Takeaways:
“You need three types of donors: new donors, major donors, and mid-level donors.”
“If you want more revenue, you need more people in the room.”
“Fall in love with your donors.”
“Super fan retention focuses on connection, access, personal touches, thoughtful updates, integrated relationship building, and helping donors feel like a part of the work.”
“LinkedIn has the highest ROI platform that nonprofits are totally ignoring.”
Episode Resources:
FREE Resources from Splendid Consulting:
How to Work with Christina and Splendid Consulting:
Double Your Donations - Raise More From Your Laptop Without Chasing Grants or Galas
Easy Emails For Impact™ - Turn Your Inbox into an Income Stream
Donations on Demand: Build a $5K Email Campaign System in 30 min/week
The SPRINT Method™ - Fundraise Like a Pro, 5 Figures At a Time
Connect with Christina and Splendid Consulting:
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*Links may be affiliate links which means I may earn a commission at no cost to you.
Christina Edwards 0:36I Well, Happy New Year. I'm so excited for this episode. This is one that I've been working on for almost two months now, putting together these 2026 fundraising trends. And if you're a nonprofit leader, marketer or fundraiser, maybe even a board member, I want you to listen to this two part series. I love January because as much as it I love January, because as much as it is a cliche that we're doing the New Year, New Year, you it is a reset. And I love a reset. I love a reset just to kind of blank slate and foundationally decide what you want, who you want to be, where you're going, plug that into your GPS for the year. And before you do that, before you set your goals, before you reflect, before you maybe you pick a word of the year. Maybe you like to do a vision board like I do. Before you do that, I want you to listen to these trends and ask yourself, Ooh, what's resonating with me? What am I already doing that I could double down on, on these trends? What do I think would make a lot of sense for our organization in these trends? What should we be doing? And weave that into your annual plan. If you don't have an annual plan, you need to come into my world. We have support for you inside the Purpose & Profit Club®, inside The SPRINT Method™ as well, so you can come up with your annual fundraising plan. So I want to start with something that I've been noticing. You could throw a rock and hit a post about how you know people will say donors are tired giving us down. Everyone is struggling. This sector is in a crisis. I talked a lot about this in last week's episode, but then I look at my clients, record breaking years, record breaking campaigns, record breaking upgrades, record breaking audience growth. My own business had its strongest year to date. So that data doesn't match the narrative. So if you want to create your own record this year in 2026 these are the trends that you need to understand and focus on. This isn't generic. This isn't something you can just pull from Google. This is what I'm seeing across every organization I work with in my ecosystem, studying outside of the sector, every digital strategy session and leadership conversation. So these trends are real because they're already happening. I
Christina Edwards 3:08
the truth is, we have a lot of lag time in the nonprofit sector. We wait, we look around, we ask for permission, lots of evidence. I had a post on LinkedIn go viral, and I had a comment that was asking for, where's the where's the big study on on your philosophy, like, where's the big case on this? Like, they wanted, you know, a big study. Almost, it reminded me of, almost, like a pharmaceutical company doing, like, clinical testing and trials. And when I said to him, was, here's what I can show you. I can show you this behavioral science to back it up. I can show you the case studies from our own clients to back it up. But if you're looking for a comprehensive 12 month deep dive study across cause areas and giving organizations, keep looking, because that is not happening in our sector. We got lag time that is outdated. And if you want to see organizational growth, sometimes you have to take the leap. You have to take the jump. We cling to best practices because they feel safe, not because they work, which is exactly what was happening with this person's kind of question is like, but I'm scared. What's the question underneath this question? Will this work for me? But I'm scared. Please show me loads and loads and loads of data and and and studies so I can feel good about taking this very, very honestly, not that risky, risk, safe risk, but, but then we see, you know, the creator economy evolving every month. Consumer Behavior shifting week by week, donor psychology changing faster than most organizations adapt. My job, my obsession is collapsing lag time for you, collapsing timelines for you. So I study what's happening in our sector and outside of it. I watch how donors behave. I watch how consumers behave. I look for those patterns. I test these strategies in my own business. I have my clients test them as well. They're seeing this return. They're seeing. That's working. Everything I teach them in my programs are so you're not operating on a five year delay, right? You're working with what's working right now, not theory, not headlines, not an old playbook let's get into it with
Trend number one. Audience growth is a key revenue engine. Your budget will not grow if your audience doesn't grow. Now, I love upgrading donors. I love working with your your audience you already have. However, 2026 is the year organizations finally understand that audience growth is key. It is not a nice to have. It is a key revenue driver. So you need three types of donors. You need new donors who are giving under $1,000 or $500 a year. Sort of your air quotes, smaller donors. You need major donor prospects right then you need those mid level donors. Now you can upgrade donors that fall into those theory categories. But I also want you always filling your tank, filling your pipeline with new donor leads. That means building your email list, building your social following, right through partners, through events, through collaborations, through a social street team, right?
Christina Edwards 6:31
if you want more revenue, you need more people in the room. If you want more revenue, you need more people in the room. So audience building is key inside every one of my programs. If you take my email course, we talk about audience building. If you're in the sprint method, to learn the skill of digital fundraising, we talk a lot about lead gen and audience building. And inside the purpose and profit Club, where we do more advanced audience audience building. That's why we have the social Street Team method.
Trend number two, laptop fundraising and email first campaigns, these are going to be huge in 2026 short digital sprint campaigns that you can run from your laptop outperform expensive events, raffles, dry chicken dinners and anything that feels like 2008 fundraising. Laptop fundraising is fast, nimble, efficient and wildly effective. Email first fundraising is a central part of of laptop fundraising, and it continues to out convert any other digital channel. By far and away, email is the highest conversion tool and digital fundraising, it outperforms any Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok, anything that your organization might have. So becoming an email first fundraiser is really a fundraising skill that's going to drive a primary revenue growth online in 2026
Christina Edwards 8:16
Trend number three, the rise of human amplifiers powered by a social street team. This is your social Street Team era, where people influence people, people, everyday ambassadors and volunteers, people tapping into the creator and influencer economy online, getting in front, borrowing other people's audiences. Awareness comes from humans, not institutions. It doesn't just fall from the sky, right? Your staff, your board, your ambassadors, alumni, volunteers, partners, creators, community allies become your amplifier network. They are your awareness pipeline, your endorsement engine, your credibility builders, your audience expanders, your social proof. This is not about influencers only being in charge of your fundraising. This is about your community helping to shape how donors discover you. This is how you collapse timelines to hit your digital fundraising goal quickly, having human amplifiers, having a social street team will accomplish so many different things. It accomplishes hitting your fundraising goal. It accomplishes that lead gen need right, getting more people in your pipeline, and that credibility builder.
Trend number four, scrappy leader driven content and breaking the fourth wall. Okay, let's dig into what I mean. Donors want to see the real you. We don't want to see the ominous brand formulaic. I don't even know the humans behind the screen, right? We want to know You, the people inside the organization, the people serving the organization, the people impacted by the organization. How do you do it? You break the fourth wall. Many episodes back, I have a episode about breaking the fourth wall. If you've ever watched, think Parks and Rec does it? The Office definitely does it. You know where Michael Scott gives you kind of little wink directly into the camera, Sex and the City did it too. So we want that Wink. We want to know we're in conversation with you. We want to see the real you. How do you do that? Thoughtful, human, imperfect content from founders and executive directors, fundraisers, program leads, comms, people, that drives more than any polished brand post, breaking the fourth wall, having content that does that actually brings donors inside the story and builds trust and credibility very quickly. You can do this in a handheld video, talking head style, right? I always have my phone in my hand when I'm doing that, a quick update, a voice memo, a voice DM, a selfie on site, a walk and talk, unscripted behind the scenes. Moment I had an ED who did this recently, pulled over in his car, recorded a short video for his donors. It was so good. Why? Because it's real. We don't want the perfect polish. We want to feel connected. We want to feel like our donation is truly going somewhere and truly impacting the people that you serve. You start to show that true trust, that true credibility, that true impact, when you strip it down, and let me tell you, it's 10 times easier to make a talking head style selfie video than it is to bring down a bring in a videographer, crew, lighting, find a place, right? That's that could be $10,000 just for one video. Why when you could do this and it has so much of a higher impact, it sets the emotional foundation for faster conversations.
Christina Edwards 11:55
Trend number five, super fan retention. It is time for you to have super fans for you to create super fans that are retained, that are in your world for 8, 9,10, years, even longer, versus the one time donor who is one and done. How do you do that? Fall in love with your donors. Retention becomes about belonging, and it starts with you first. I want you to love on your donors, even if you're not literally saying I love you dear donor. I want you to think about them. Think about the $5 donor and the $5,000 donor equally. They are both connected to your organization. They are both super fans, or have the potential to be super fans. So turning that I gave once donor into this, I am in this with you, donor that is essential. Super fan, retention. Focuses on connection, access, personal touches, thoughtful updates, integrated relationship building and helping donors feel like a part of the work. This is relationship first retention, not just some formulaic calendar and cadence, not just some old school fundraising, how to book. And many of you are either stuck in one or two camps. You're stuck in old school fundraising, where you're giving them the formulaic blah blah blah and the tax letter and the blah blah blah, you know, here and there, and it's very boring and it's very ominous. It's not creating that, that belonging. It's not creating that momentum that I'm with you. Energy, I'm in this right? Or you're in the other camp, and you're sending them the tax receipt, not stewarding them, not really doing much till you need something, right? This is the you only call when you need something energy. Okay, we're gonna throw both out the window, and it's time to fall in love with your donors. Valentine's Day is coming up. You can do a fall in love with your donors campaign where it's actually not even an ass campaign. You could even do it just then, if you wanted to do it about Valentine's Day. But I really want you to think about if I want to be more connected and I want to retain my donors and create that connection, how could I do that? What are some ways that I could do it? The easiest way to do it is make sure you have an automated email welcome series so something that is happening in the background every time a brand new donor gives your organization, they are retained, you roll out the red carpet with them. This is a simple series. We teach you how to do it inside Easy Emails For Impact™. So you set it and it's just happening in the background. That's one way. One is an on the fly surprise and delight moment. This could be a video. This could be a note. This could be a short email, those personal touches. The last piece is, you need to be updating them. You need to make sure you're not in the you only call when you need something energy.
Christina Edwards 14:46
Trend number six, I'm pretty excited about this one, because if you've listened to me enough, you know, I'm not a big fan of traditional social media. I think y'all pour a lot of time and money and people power to create content that very few people see because. Because of the social media algorithm, about one to 10% of your audience sees your Facebook or Instagram posts. Okay, not that great. So if you have 1000 followers, you might only have between 15 and 100 people. 10 and 100 people see your content. That is not a good use of your time. That's why I like the Social Street Team®, because instead, you're borrowing other people's audiences who have way more fans than yours, okay, but this social media channel, I like LinkedIn. LinkedIn as a lead generation and visibility channel, I want you to start prioritizing your LinkedIn for thought leadership, not for your organization's brand page, but you, you as the ED, you as the fundraiser, stepping into your thought leadership. So LinkedIn has the highest ROI platforms that nonprofits are totally ignoring. This is where major donors, partners, corporate leads, community allies, future amazing board members hang out. Leaders who show up consistently on LinkedIn are growing faster. They're widening their audience. They're opening doors to partnerships. I've had clients book partnerships through LinkedIn, get in front of new donors through LinkedIn and secure new funding because of LinkedIn. Have secured media coverage because of LinkedIn. This isn't necessarily about throwing everything out and becoming this like daily poster on LinkedIn, but it is about stepping into your voice of thought leadership this year on LinkedIn and using it as a lead generation channel. It's about being visible, connecting, being top of mind. So think about where you can weekly, once a week, show up on LinkedIn. If you need some help, come follow me on LinkedIn. You'll see what I'm doing there. And it has been something that I've been iterating and trying and really feel like I've cracked the code on LinkedIn, and it's worked a lot for my clients as well.
Christina Edwards 16:51
So this is part one of a two part series next week. We're going to dig into tools tech and leadership shifts that are accelerating growth, but today's episode was focused on strategy and visibility to help you raise more in 2026
Christina Edwards 17:13
if you want more help implementing these, every one of my programs helps support you in these skills. Easy emails for impact is where you become an email first fundraiser, the sprint method for repeatable digital campaigns, especially for new and emerging nonprofits, and the purpose and profit Club, where we get more advanced implementation, social street teams, leadership level execution, where we weave in direct mail major donor upgrades into your digital campaigns. so I will see you in part two of 2026, fundraising trends next week.
Christina Edwards 18:06
that if you haven't already, take a moment to rate and review the podcast. It helps my podcast show up to more social impact leaders just like you. I'll see you next week. You.