You may have heard that there’s a new fundraising report out called the Philanthropy Outlook by Lilly School of Philanthropy and sponsored by CCS.

Basically, the report says that the forecast for 2024 and 2025 is that overall, giving will go up 4.2% and 3.9%. For Individual donors, giving is forecasted to increase, 2.6% and 3.4% in 2025. If you read the report, you’ll see this is not just some anecdotal thoughts, but based on 19 economic indicators.

If you recall, last year The Fundraising Effectiveness Project saw a decrease in giving for the first time in over 15 years from major donors. Meanwhile, our clients at Veritus were up 22% overall, year over year.

So, if you are a non-profit CEO, DoD, or frontline fundraiser, the wind is at your back. My question is, are you going to take advantage of it or squander it?

If you look at what’s going on with donor behavior, and all those 19 economic factors, especially mid-level and major donors, you would have a well-run, well-oiled mid and major gift program. Unfortunately, most non-profits don’t.

In fact, most have no idea what they are doing. We know this firsthand, because we evaluate over a hundred non-profit donor files every year, and we continue to see very high donor and donor value attrition rates.

Bottom line, NOW is the time to seriously get your mid-level and major gift program figured out. Now, more than ever this is the time to build authentic relationships with donors.

All the outside influences you CANNOT control are in place for donors to respond generously, but if you don’t have a good handle on the things you CAN control, you will miss out on this current tail wind.

It’s frustrating to see so many non-profits NOT get this right when the answer is simple. Those non-profit leaders, managers, and frontline fundraisers that have embraced a structured, disciplined, focused mid-level and major gift program have thrived.

In 2023, we had one of our clients increase their mid-level and major gift program by 33%, or $27MM in revenue. Why? Because they got serious about putting together a program with a disciplined approach that built relationships with donors. And in 2024? They are already ahead of last year at the first quarter. Donors are responding in ways their leaders never imagined.

So, let’s do this. Let’s get serious about getting your mid-level and major gift program together. The wind is at your back.

Jeff