Fewer Donors, Larger Gifts: What the Shift Means for Your Fundraising Plan

The total went up. The number of people behind it went down. That sentence describes American giving for most of the last five years, and it describes what most small nonprofits will see in their own numbers if they look.

The Fundraising Effectiveness Project's report for the first quarter of 2026 estimated that dollars raised rose 4.3 percent over the same period a year earlier while the number of donors fell 0.8 percent, and that midsize, major, and top-tier donors now contribute the vast majority of revenue while the smallest donors keep declining. More money from fewer people is a fragile kind of growth. Here is what the shift means for an organization your size, and how to build a plan that does not depend on it continuing.

What the numbers actually say

The Fundraising Effectiveness Project, a collaboration of the Association of Fundraising Professionals Foundation and GivingTuesday, tracks giving across thousands of organizations every quarter. Its findings have been consistent. Full-year 2024 donor retention came in at 42.9 percent, the fifth consecutive year of decline, and new donor retention stood near 19 percent, meaning roughly four of every five first-time donors did not give again. Through early 2026 the donor losses slowed, which the researchers called encouraging, but retention fell again across most donor tiers and only the smallest segment improved. The pattern is a shrinking base carried by larger gifts.

Why it is a risk, even when the total rises

An organization that raises more from fewer donors is more exposed to each of them. One major donor moving, retiring, or changing priorities becomes a budget event. A shrinking base also means a shrinking pipeline: tomorrow's major donors are today's small ones, and if the small ones stop arriving, the top of the pyramid empties in a few years. And the total can hide the trend. A board that sees revenue up 4 percent may not see that the number of households giving fell for the fifth year running. Put both numbers on the same page.

Revenue is the result. Donor count is the forecast. Report both, and manage the second.

Move one: keep the donors you have

Retention is the cheapest fundraising there is, and it is where most small organizations lose the most. Fewer than half of donors give again the following year, and the decline is steepest among first-time donors. The fixes are known and unglamorous: a thank-you within forty-eight hours, a report on what the gift did before the next ask, a second-gift invitation within a few months, and a personal touch for anyone whose gift grew. Our articles on why donors stop giving, thanking donors so they give again, and turning one-time givers into lifelong donors are the program.

Move two: build the middle

The donors between small gifts and major gifts are the ones the sector's data shows growing, and the ones most small organizations never speak to differently. Identify everyone who gave above your typical gift in the last two years, assign each a named person, and treat them the way you would a major donor at a smaller scale: a call, an update, an invitation, an ask that reflects what they have already shown. Our article on major gifts for small nonprofits covers the top of that program, and the donor data you already have shows how to find the middle in your own records.

Move three: make small giving easy and worthwhile again

The decline in small donors is partly cost of living and partly friction: donation pages that take five screens, appeals that ask for too much, no monthly option. Two things help in 2026. A monthly giving program turns a small gift into a reliable one and is the most durable base a small nonprofit can build; see building a monthly giving program from zero. And the tax rules changed: beginning with the 2026 tax year, donors who take the standard deduction can deduct cash gifts to public charities, up to 1,000 dollars for an individual and 2,000 dollars for a couple filing jointly. For the first time in years, a small donor's gift comes with a tax benefit, and your year-end messages should say so in plain words.

Building the retention program, the mid-level list, and the monthly program is steady, repeatable work, which is what our Fundraising department does for organizations without a development director. See how our staff grow donors while you lead.

Move four: keep the top of the pyramid honest

Larger donors are carrying more of the load, and they are also changing how they give. Itemizers now face a floor before charitable gifts are deductible, which nudges some toward larger, less frequent gifts and toward giving through donor-advised funds and from retirement accounts. None of that reduces their generosity; it changes its timing and its form. Know which of your donors give through a fund or an advisor, ask about multi-year commitments while trust is high, and make sure your organization is easy to find and verify by anyone recommending it. Our article on donor-advised funds explained for executive directors covers that channel.

Move five: bring new people in where they already are

New donor acquisition remains the hardest part of the picture, and paid acquisition is expensive for a small organization. The people most likely to become donors are the ones already searching for what you do or already using your programs. Google Ad Grants puts your organization in front of the first group at no cost, and program participants, volunteers, and event attendees are the second. Ask both, and track the first gift as carefully as the largest. Our article on what to advertise with Google Ad Grants covers the search side.

The three numbers to watch

• Donor retention rate: the share of last year's donors who gave again this year. The sector average is below half; every point above it is revenue you did not have to find.
• Second-gift conversion: the share of first-time donors who give a second time. Near one in five across the sector. Doubling it changes the organization's future.
• Donor count, alongside revenue, on every board report, so growth from fewer people is seen for what it is.

Questions nonprofits ask about the donor shift

Is it bad news if our revenue is up but our donor count is down?

It is a warning. Revenue tells you about this year; donor count tells you about the next five. Treat a falling count as a retention and acquisition problem to fix now.

Should we focus on major donors since that is where the money is?

Focus on the whole pyramid. Major donors carry the total, but they came from the base, and a base that stops growing starves the top in a few years.

Does the 2026 tax change matter to small donors?

Yes. A donor taking the standard deduction can now deduct cash gifts up to 1,000 dollars, or 2,000 dollars jointly. Say so in year-end appeals; it is the first such benefit in years.

How do we know what our own numbers are?

Pull last year's donors and this year's, and count who appears in both. If that takes more than an hour, the donor data is the first thing to fix.

Your mission is bigger than this year's total

A larger total from fewer people feels like success until one of those people moves on. The plan that lasts keeps the donors you have, builds the middle, welcomes the small ones back, and brings new people in from the places they already are. You do not need to become a development director on top of everything else. You need a staff that is already sending the thank-yous, already calling the mid-level donors, and already building the monthly program while you lead the mission only you can lead. Find out what our staff can do for you.

Zoya Syal is Content and Production Manager at Nonprofits Engine, where she leads the content and testimonial work for a team that helps small nonprofits get set up and funded.