Digital Fundraising for Nonprofits: What Works in the Current Landscape

Digital fundraising has transformed nonprofit revenue development over the past decade, shifting increasing shares of giving online and creating new channels including email appeals, social media fundraising, peer-to-peer campaigns, crowdfunding, and text-to-give programs. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated this shift as in-person fundraising events were cancelled and donors moved their financial lives more completely online. Understanding what the evidence shows about digital fundraising effectiveness, and where the significant knowledge gaps remain, is important for organizations making investment decisions. Email remains the most effective digital fundraising channel for most nonprofits by both response rate and return on investment. Research on nonprofit email fundraising documents that email-driven revenue has grown consistently over the past decade and that email continues to outperform social media in driving actual donations for most organizations. Effective email fundraising depends on list quality, which requires deliberate list building and maintenance, as well as message quality, timing, and segmentation that tailors content to different donor interests and giving histories. Year-end giving concentration, particularly in December and especially in the final days of the year, is a distinctive feature of the nonprofit giving landscape. Research consistently documents that approximately 30 percent of annual charitable giving occurs in December, and a large share of that in the final week. Organizations that build effective year-end digital campaigns, including compelling email sequences, social media amplification, and matching gift challenges, generate disproportionate shares of their annual revenue in this concentrated period. Peer-to-peer fundraising, in which supporters recruit donations from their own networks for a cause, has grown substantially through platforms including GoFundMe Charity, Classy, and organization-specific peer-to-peer programs. Research on peer-to-peer fundraising documents its effectiveness in reaching new donors who would not otherwise give to an organization, as well as its dependence on adequate platform infrastructure and strategic support for campaign participants. Organizations that invest in training, motivating, and supporting their peer-to-peer fundraisers see substantially better results than those that simply set up the technology and hope for the best. Social media fundraising through platforms including Facebook, Instagram, and increasingly TikTok has grown as these platforms have added native fundraising features that reduce friction for spontaneous giving. Facebook Fundraisers have been particularly significant for some organizations, particularly during periods of heightened public attention to specific issues. Research on social media fundraising documents its effectiveness for acquisition of new, often younger donors who may give smaller average gifts but who could be cultivated toward longer-term giving relationships. Monthly giving programs, which convert one-time donors to recurring monthly contributions, are among the most high-value relationships in digital fundraising. Monthly donors have significantly higher retention rates than single-gift donors, larger total lifetime giving values, and stronger organizational connections. Research on monthly giving programs documents that digital conversion strategies, including offering monthly giving as the default or preferred option in donation forms, can substantially increase monthly giving participation rates. Mobile optimization is a baseline requirement for effective digital fundraising. Research on online giving behavior documents that a growing majority of initial email opens and donation page visits occur on mobile devices, and that donation completion rates drop dramatically when donation pages are not optimized for mobile. Organizations that have not invested in mobile-optimized giving experiences are losing donations at a measurable rate. Text-to-give campaigns, which enable donations via SMS, have proven effective for event-based fundraising and during moments of heightened public attention but are less effective as sustained relationship-building tools. Research on text giving documents high response rates during peak moments and lower retention of text-only donors compared to donors acquired through email or in-person channels. Data and analytics capabilities are increasingly important for digital fundraising effectiveness. Organizations that can segment their donor lists, analyze giving patterns, identify lapsed donors, and personalize communications based on donor interest and giving history outperform those with weaker data capabilities. Customer relationship management systems designed for nonprofit fundraising are widely available at varying price points, and investing in the data infrastructure that enables personalization and analysis pays dividends in fundraising effectiveness.