If you asked me for the short answer to what fundraisers should focus on this year, I’d say this: have a plan.
That’s not easy, but it is simple. And it’s the foundation for everything else I’m going to talk about here.
Too many fundraisers are still operating reactively. They’re busy, and they’re working hard. But they don’t actually have a clear, intentional plan for every donor they manage. If you want to be effective this year, that has to change.
As Diana Frazier, Veritus Senior Client Experience Leader, discussed with me on a recent podcast, here are six things I believe every fundraiser, and every fundraising leader, should be focused on right now.
(If you want to listen to this podcast episode, Diana Frazier: 6 Things Every Fundraiser Should Focus On in 2026, will be live on the Real Talk for Real Fundraisers Podcast tomorrow!)
1. Have a Real Plan for Every Donor
If you’re a Major Gift Officer, you should have a plan for every donor on your caseload. Not a vague idea. A real plan.
That means reviewing each donor individually, understanding their interests, setting a revenue goal, and mapping out what the relationship should look like over the course of the year. For major gifts, this includes a management goal and an aspirational goal. Sometimes they’re the same. Often they shouldn’t be.
I always recommend anchoring the plan around the anticipated month of the ask. Start there, then work backward. What needs to happen to get the donor ready? What conversations, updates, or experiences need to occur? And after the ask, how are you going to steward and thank them?
A good plan also includes at least one meaningful touch point per month. That could be an update, a call, a note, a birthday acknowledgment, or a visit. When the plan is built, you should know exactly what you’re doing every day when you come to work.
From a practical standpoint, many CRMs make this kind of linear thinking hard. That’s why we often recommend exporting to Excel or using a Donor Engagement Plan. Start with the donors you know best or those with the highest potential.
Spend real creative energy there. You’ll quickly find that good ideas for your top donors translate to others, allowing you to leverage your thinking across the caseload.
2. Make Sure Your Donors Are Qualified
A plan only works if the donor is qualified.
Qualification means the donor has agreed to a two-way engagement. They want to have a relationship. If they’re not qualified, that’s the first thing you need to address.
If you skip this step, you’ll spend your year chasing donors who don’t return calls, don’t respond to emails, and don’t want a relationship. That’s exhausting, and it makes the job much harder than it needs to be.
Every donor should be properly tiered A, B, or C, have a revenue goal attached, and be cash-flowed. And you should always be thinking 30, 60, and 90 days out. If you know you’re going to ask in March, you should be working on that in January. When you plan this way, you’re rarely surprised, and you can adjust as things change.
3. Get an Accountability Partner
If you don’t already have an accountability partner, get one.
This could be your manager, a senior colleague, or someone you trust. What matters is that you meet weekly. Not monthly. Weekly.
The purpose is for movement. Someone who asks, “What did you say you were going to do? Did you do it? What are you doing next?” That kind of structure is incredibly motivating.
We see this all the time in our coaching. When you know you’re going to talk to someone about your donors and your strategy, you move. You stay focused. And you get the benefit of thinking out loud with someone who wants you to succeed.
4. Leaders: Remove Barriers in the Donor Pipeline
For development directors and executive directors, your focus should be the donor pipeline and the barriers within it.
Your job is to support fundraisers by removing obstacles. That means looking across the entire pipeline, from acquisition to direct response, sustainer programs, mid-level, major gifts, and planned giving.
Where things get messy is when strategies turn into silos. Membership becomes a department. Events become a department. Planned giving and major gifts compete instead of collaborating. Suddenly, everyone is fighting over who “owns” the donor.
Another major barrier is donor offers. If leaders are asking why they aren’t getting six- and seven-figure gifts, my question is simple: do you have six- and seven-figure offers? You can’t expect donors to give at that level if all you’re offering is “support the general fund.”
Leaders also need to fix system issues. CRM problems. Gift processing delays. Clunky workflows. These things wear fundraisers down. You have the authority to solve them. Your gift officers don’t.
5. Build or Strengthen Your Mid-Level Program
If you don’t have a mid-level program, this is the year to build one. It’s not optional anymore.
We routinely see donors giving $2,500 year after year with no increase. That might seem like loyalty, but it reeks of neglect. No one has asked them to consider doing more!
When organizations implement mid-level properly, we often see 5–15% year-over-year growth in that segment. Mid-level is how donors move. Without it, they’re stuck.
6. Pay Attention to DAFs and Use AI Wisely
Donor-advised funds are not a niche anymore. Nearly 23% of all individual giving now comes through DAFs. There are more than 3.5 million DAF accounts, with over $326 billion sitting in them waiting to be directed.
These are philanthropic people. You need to have conversations with them. Ask what they want to achieve through their DAF. Ask what changes they want to see. Ask how and when they want to be approached. Often, the money is already set aside. The decision is simply where it should go.
Finally, AI is here. It’s not replacing fundraisers. Fundraising is still person to person. But AI can help with workflow, strategy, and insight, especially when it’s integrated into your CRM. Leaders should be asking what tools already exist and how they can support relationship management, not just direct response.
Final Thoughts
Fundraising is hard work. Practicing gratitude matters. Gratitude for your donors, and gratitude for the mission you serve.
Get out to programs. Be present. See the impact firsthand. It will fill you up and remind you why this work matters.
Have a plan. Work the plan. And don’t do it alone. I’m already excited for your year ahead!