What 1,500 nonprofits
taught us about growth.

Nonprofit marketing has rarely felt less predictable. Government funding is pulling back, donor behavior keeps shifting, and economic uncertainty makes every quarter feel like a question mark. The instinct in a moment like this is to double down on transactional digital marketing, working the list harder and casting a wider net.

This instinct is exactly backwards. Digital marketing, as most of the sector still practices it, is dead. In this POV, we unpack the data behind today's engagement crisis and introduce the Community-First Marketing model -- a Build, Activate, Multiply framework for turning digital channels into lasting donor relationships instead of one-off transactions.

‍

You already know year-end matters. Nonprofits raised 37% of their annual online revenue in December alone last year. What's changed is everything around it.

2026 is a different kind of year-end. Government support is shrinking, and more organizations than ever are competing for individual donors. Those donors are stretched, giving more carefully, and sticking to nonprofits they already trust. AI overviews are reshaping how people discover where to give. And a new Universal Charitable Deduction is about to pull a wave of small-dollar donors into play for the first time in years.

We put together our point of view on what's shifting this year, why the fundamentals still win, and how to put them to work between now and December 31.

Most nonprofit marketing only reaches people already looking for causes like yours. But that audience is finite, and once it's tapped out, so is your growth.
‍
Programmatic is one of the most powerful and underused digital channels for reaching the right people before they ever go looking.

In this POV, we break down how this always-on channel can help supercharge a comprehensive digital marketing program by reaching new audiences that might otherwise not know about your nonprofit.

‍

Everyone's talking about Generative Engine Optimization, and for good reason. Showing up in AI-generated results matters. But GEO alone won't get you found. In this on-demand webinar and guide, we'll break down how we build and execute comprehensive search strategies for our nonprofit clients integrating SEO, paid search, Google Ad Grants, and AI visibility into one approach that compounds over time. Walk away with a clearer picture of where your organization stands and what to prioritize next.

When funding is under pressure, your community is your most resilient asset. This guide walks through a four-step engagement campaign — Impact, Resonance, Stewardship, Sustain— designed to rally supporters and protect organizational momentum when it matters most.

• A ready-to-deploy four-step community engagement campaign with email templates
• How to build urgency without burning out your team or your audience
• Practical tools to mobilize advocates, deepen relationships, and increase resilience

When your board asks "what did marketing actually contribute to fundraising?" — this is the guide that lets you answer with confidence. Reframe the conversation, build the right KPIs, apply attribution models, and present board-level reports that earn budget and trust.

• How to shift boards from viewing marketing as overhead to seeing it as a growth engine
• The core KPIs that connect marketing directly to fundraising outcomes
• Attribution frameworks and dashboard structures you can implement immediately

Awareness months generate impressions. This guide shows you how to turn them into donors. Learn the structural shift from one-month campaign blasts to evergreen acquisition systems — with omnichannel execution tactics and a proven case study delivering 9.63× ROAS.

• Why most awareness campaigns are high-cost, low-conversion — and how to fix the structure
• The full-funnel framework: Impact → Resonance → Stewardship, applied to campaign planning
• Omnichannel best practices for retargeting, segmentation, and post-campaign nurture

Based on responses from 5,127 nonprofit professionals, this is the data-backed picture of where the sector is headed. What's driving revenue growth. What's holding organizations back. And what the highest performers are doing differently.

• Online fundraising, multi-channel trends, and digital ad budget benchmarks by org size
• Why nonprofits with loyalty programs dramatically outperform those without
• The #1 challenge (still) blocking growth — and what's actually working instead

Our framework for putting Community-First Marketing into practice — moving supporters from first impression to lifelong advocate across every channel.

• Define all three stages- Build strategy- Align teams
• Build strategy at every phase, from discovery to conversion to loyalty
• Align internal teams around a unified framework for long-term mission growth