From 2024 Insights to 2025 Action: Learn from the Latest Nonprofit Fundraising Trends

We’re in a new era of giving—one that’s increasingly digital, crowdsourced, transparency-driven, and influenced by socially conscious younger generations. To address recent year-over-year declines in donations, nonprofits need to stay ahead of the latest fundraising trends and adapt their strategies accordingly.

As charitable giving evolves, nonprofits must also rethink how they build community and communicate with donors to inspire them to amplify their cause.

Below, we’ll examine five key nonprofit fundraising trends highlighted in leading 2024 data reports. These insights will help you anticipate how supporters are likely to engage in 2025 and provide strategies to harness that momentum effectively.

5 nonprofit fundraising trends to enhance your 2025 strategy

Backed by leading nonprofit sector research, the following trends provide actionable insights to help you craft initiatives that resonate with and inspire your donor base.

1. The public’s confidence in nonprofits is growing

The 2024 Edelman Trust Barometer is a global, demographically representative survey that examines people’s societal views and attitudes. This year’s report revealed a five-point, year-over-year increase in trust in nonprofit organizations, positioning them as the most ethical institutions. 

This is the first time the measure has increased in five years, contrasting sharply with declining trust in government agencies, media outlets, and businesses over the same period. 

Trust is the foundation of strong donor relationships and higher donor retention rates, making this upward trend especially encouraging. To fortify this trust in 2025, your nonprofit should establish ways to:

• Maintain high nonprofit ratings with well-known organizations.
• Set and communicate clear fundraising goals.
• Keep supporters informed about how you use their donations.
• Implement fraud prevention strategies.
• Utilize a secure fundraising platform, payment solutions, and customer relationship management or CRM databases.

While building trust directly with your donors is essential, it’s equally critical to recognize the broader dynamics of trust that influence giving. The 2024 Trust in Nonprofits and Philanthropy report reveals that 48% of people trust recommendations from friends and family when making decisions—far more than the 33% who trust ads or the 17% who trust news sources.

Leveraging these personal recommendations presents a powerful opportunity for nonprofits. In fact, GoFundMe’s The Social State of Giving report found that one in four Gen Z respondents donated based on a recommendation from a social media creator they follow, and 51% said they would trust these impact creators to make donations on their behalf.

By harnessing institutional trust and personal influence, nonprofits can inspire action and amplify their reach.

2. Supporters express their values through social sharing

GoFundMe’s The Social State of Giving report found that half of Gen Z shares causes or fundraisers at least once a week. Meanwhile, half of Millennials and Gen X also share these messages, but on a monthly basis. 

This sharing isn’t arbitrary. It’s purposeful. People are thoughtful about their digital presence, with a quarter of all respondents sharing to play a role in the community. This number rises to 37% for Gen Z specifically and 30% for Millennials. Additionally, 25% of Gen Z reported sharing causes as a form of self-expression, underscoring the role of digital space in personal and social identity.

This level of loyalty and engagement is hugely powerful. It can:

• Get your cause in front of new audiences.
• Increase organic donor engagement with your content.
• Facilitate a strong sense of community with your cause.
• Create a pipeline of lifelong supporters and advocates.

Having easy-to-use social sharing tools is a must. Our Meta social sharing integration makes it easy for nonprofits and supporters to create posts that stand out in social media feeds with a polished look, donate button, and dynamic progress metrics. Don’t hesitate to ask supporters to help share information about upcoming fundraising events or launch a peer-to-peer fundraising campaign on their social media accounts.

GoFundMe empowers supporters to showcase their favorite causes and track their collective impact through unique links and Profiles. With a single click, supporters can share any fundraiser, generating a unique link that tracks their impact in real time. Their personal impact dashboard provides detailed insights, including the number of people they’ve inspired, total funds raised, and more. 

GoFundMe Profiles also make it easy for supporters to curate and share causes they’re passionate about, inspire others to give, and celebrate their collective impact—all in one place.

3. Social media inspires nonprofit engagement and giving

According to The Social State of Giving, 41% of Gen Z said that social media content has motivated them to research or donate to a cause. This trend extends across age demographics, with about 25% of Millennials and 20% of Gen X motivated by what they see on social media.

In 2025, nonprofits can tap into this enthusiasm by crafting compelling social media content and adopting best practices to maximize engagement, such as:

• Leaning into videos: Videos are the most engaging content on social media, as demonstrated by the rapid growth of platforms like TikTok. Create short, behind-the-scenes videos to humanize your nonprofit and connect with your audience on a deeper level.
• Leveraging Instagram carousel posts: Static posts typically see the lowest engagement on social media, but Instagram’s carousel feature can boost interactions and reach. Compile up to 20 slides with photos, infographics, videos, and text that users can scroll through.
• Incorporating paid ads: Digital advertising on social media helps get your message in front of new donors. Start by running paid ads on the platforms where your target audience is the most active.
• Keeping a consistent posting schedule: A consistent posting cadence on social media helps sustain engagement and sets expectations for supporters. Use a content calendar to keep your team organized and ensure a regular schedule.

In addition, consider how influencer marketing could help facilitate greater reach of your messaging. The Social State of Giving found that most Millennial and Gen Z social media users follow these account types, making their promotion of your brand a powerful motivator for giving.

Corporate partners or business professionals can also help amplify your messages on LinkedIn, where potential donors may come to research your nonprofit before giving.

4. Interest in and usage of artificial intelligence (AI) for fundraising is on the rise

AI tools are transforming online giving and fundraising strategies. According to GoFundMe’s 2024 Year in Help report, our community leveraged AI features over 10 million times this year to amplify their impact. For instance, GoFundMe AI assists supporters in crafting campaign titles, writing compelling stories, and setting fundraising goals. 

As we move into 2025, AI for nonprofits will continue to advance. Nonprofits that opt in early have a chance to stay on the cutting edge of technology to make workflows and campaigns more effective. To get started, explore Classy from GoFundMe’s fundraising intelligence suite, built to predict donor behavior, prescribe smarter fundraising activities, and drive more giving. 

Particularly, our Intelligent Ask Amounts feature provides real-time, predictive, and personalized ask amounts for every donor who visits your donation forms. 

This giving season, we put Intelligent Ask Amounts to the ultimate test on Classy, scaling it across 5.4M sessions—a massive leap from our initial launch. The results? 

• Increased revenue for nonprofits: Intelligent Ask Amounts consistently boosted donation revenue, even during the busiest time of year. 
• Proven power in high-stakes moments: The giving season is unlike any other time of year, with unique giving behavior and surging traffic. Despite that, Intelligent Ask Amounts continued delivering positive results when it mattered most. 
• Poised to fuel future innovation: With positive results across 5.4M sessions and the power of Classy and GoFundMe’s growing data set, we’re doubling down on innovation to help nonprofits achieve even greater success in the year ahead.

With our Campaign Insights option, you can also get an at-a-glance view of campaign performance to see what’s on track and what isn’t. Track campaign revenue, conversion rates, recurring giving, and other donor data with real-time updates to enable quick, effective adjustments.

5. Giving Tuesday donation levels surge with impressive yearly gains

The NonProfit Times reported that Americans donated about $3.6 billion on Giving Tuesday 2024, which was a 16% increase from last year and a revenue record for the event’s 12-year history. Additionally, the percentage increase for Giving Tuesday outpaced consumer spending for Black Friday and Cyber Monday by about six points.

The biggest takeaway from this data is that people remain deeply engaged in giving. But the key lies in adopting the right tools and strategies to capture, convert, and retain supporters’ interest. 

That’s why we’re proud to see how individuals and organizations harness tools like AI and social sharing integrations to fuel their giving potential. This impact was especially evident on Giving Tuesday 2024, with a record-breaking $65,371,592 raised from 294,520 donors through Classy and GoFundMe.

Get ready to participate in Giving Tuesday 2025 and explore fresh ways to encourage, inspire, and engage your donors. 

Pro Tip: Start planning early to secure major donor partnerships for matching gifts, which can significantly boost donor participation in your campaign.

Looking back to plan ahead

Reflecting on what we’ve experienced in 2024 helps us prepare for an even more impactful 2025. Most notably, we identified the collective need to redefine community, the desire to give as a reflection of one’s identity, and the latest technology to future-proof the long-term health of the sector.

Classy and GoFundMe are committed and prepared to support nonprofits and individuals as they build toward a more personalized, connected, and efficient future of giving. With our innovative tools and solutions, we aim to make fundraising easier and more effective so you can focus on your mission-driven efforts to create a better world for everyone.

Copy Editor: Ayanna Julien