We’re calling it now- the word of 2025 is Community.

With cuts to local and central government funding programmes set to continue in 2025, alongside gaming trusts and philanthropic foundations experiencing increasing demand for limited funds, community is going to become even more important than before- both in terms of where your funding comes from, as well as who helps you to advocate and share your story.

To set your not-for-profit up for success in 2025, it’s time to rethink how you build and sustain relationships with your community of supporters, and make sure that your organisation is relentlessly focused on amazing community engagement and relationship building. It’s well known that New Zealanders are a generous bunch. The global giving index often sees New Zealanders near the top of the charts when it comes to donating and volunteering, with the total value of private donations to New Zealand charities greatly exceeding the level of support that comes from Gaming Trusts, Commercial giving and community trusts (source: “The New Zealand Support Report", JBWere)

We know that people give to the causes and organisations that they feel closest to. So it makes sense that everything we do in fundraising should be about bringing people closer to us, building authentic and enduring relationships. A study by the University of Chicago Booth School of business revealed that it’s not just emotional connection that is important, with people far more willing to take action for nearby causes than for distant beneficiaries. The study, published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, found that people are more willing to help charitable causes close to home because they think their donation will have a stronger impact than if given to a faraway cause. “People metaphorically apply their knowledge about physical impact to charitable actions,” says Chicago Booth Professor?Ayelet Fishbach, who conducted the study “Real and perceived spatial distance negatively influence the expected impact, and hence the likelihood of charitable action.”

So far, so theoretical, but what does this mean in practice when it comes to building a list of potential supporters for your cause? Put simply- start with those closest to you. There is likely significant untapped potential in your database, which is made up of people who already have a connection to your organisation and who most likely value the work that you do. When putting together a list of potential supporters, too many organisations go straight to a small group of ‘usual suspects’, high net worth individuals well known for their philanthropy, but with little direct connection. What if instead of spending time chasing after the big donors, organisations looked closer to home and invested time and energy into cultivating a practice of giving from within their own networks?

Funding HQ’s ‘members only’ December webinar was a crystal-ball gazing session looking at key trends in fundraising for 2025. Whilst technology played a role in most of the innovations we explored, community was at the heart of everything that we discussed, with growing expectations from donors for a hyper-personalised experience when they give.

Hyper-Personalisation

What can we as fundraisers learn from expectations that we all have of being treated as an individual, and not as a group? Technology has enabled an unprecedented level of personalisation in the world of online consumerism, with the dark arts of the algorithm delivering us a uniquely personalised array of content every day. Yet so many of us are still relying on a generic campaign email sent to the whole database and calling it a fundraising campaign. How well do you know the names behind your database? What opportunities might you have through your communications this year to bring people closer to you?

When you buy something online, you expect a prompt confirmation from the retailer that includes your name and purchase information. In fundraising, the donation receipt is the bare minimum and something that most online fundraising tools and CRM systems will automate for you. Once you have made a purchase, the retailer then embarks on an intentional, nuanced and highly targeted plan of engagement- by sharing your details, and ticking that box that accepts the terms and conditions (everyone reads that right?), you are giving that retailer access to so much information about who you are, and what your online behaviour says about you. What can we learn about our supporters from their digital footprint? Can you ‘re-target’ potential supporters who have visited your website, but not donated, elsewhere on the web?

It’s a safe bet nowadays that most not-for-profits will have a ‘donate now’ button on their website- but how many of us can say that they know in detail what happens once someone clicks on that link and makes the consideration to give? What is the “user experience” like once you click? ?When someone gives to you online, it should trigger a personalised conversation between them, your organisation, and the work that your organisations does. What happens inside your organisation once someone gives? – what if each new donation triggered an email to a board member, alerting them to a new gift? Can the board be tasked with writing a personalised thank you to each new donor?

Do you have a calendar of what to do with a donor over the year of their gift? – effective donor stewardship requires more than just a series of donor newsletters- what else can you plan into your donor calendar, to ‘surprise and delight’ the donor? Do you have the capacity in your organisation to schedule personalised contact with every donor, during the year? Depending on the size of the donation, this personalised contact could be an invitation to come and see your work in action, or an invite to have a coffee with you or a board member. The personal touch is everything- and it is all about making sure that the next time you speak to your donor, it’s not just to ask them again for another gift. If you have a planned engagement strategy, you can weave this message throughout the year- so that when it comes to renewal, the conversation is an easy one.

Digital native donors

Attracting the next generation of donors is a holy-grail for many not-for-profits. Most organisations understand the importance of developing a younger group of donors, building long-term sustainability into their fundraising- but surprisingly few organisations seem open to shifting their practices to align with changes in donor expectations. Younger donors, primarily Gen Z and younger millennials, are digital natives who expect and generally prefer a ‘digital-first’ experience. A 2024 study into giving in the education sector in the USA identified email, social media, texting and online giving days as being the top channels for attracting donations from alumni.

As fundraisers, we need to consider the retirement of some of our ‘tried and true’ approaches, such as the expensive fundraising gala, and advocate with our boards for investment in digital-first strategies like upgraded CRM systems, and frictionless giving experiences.

How to build hyper-personalised donor relationships

1.????? Get to know your database: trace the individual and use everything you know about them in your communications, automated or not. Every supporter is unique, so you need to treat them as such.

2.????? Use every engagement to build the picture: Different people donate different amounts at different frequencies. So, a generalised ‘Thank-you’ email is just not going to cut it. You need to collect information on how often and why donors make donations.

3.????? Identify the motivation for giving: it might take some time and effort, but it’s essential if you want to meaningfully engage with each individual. Identifying the motivations behind a donation enables you to respond to these during every subsequent visit to your website.

4.????? Everything is connected: You’ve invested significant time and effort in building relationships with your donors, but if your donation platform is not connected to anything then donors don’t receive a thank-you message, and it might take a week or two for you to discover their donations.

5.????? Move beyond the automated ‘thank-you’ email: thank-you emails are a step in the right direction, but most people can spot a ‘bot-like’ automated response. While automation is necessary, there are better ways to go about it. Does your donation platform connect with your CRM system in a way that enables an authentic, personalised thank-you email?

6.????? Ask questions: Once you receive a new donation, follow up and find out what you can about their preferences and reasons for donating. Why are they interested in your organisation? What specific goals are they passionate about? What makes them excited about the work you do?

It takes time and effort to build a community of support around your organisation. Effective stewardship of donors requires careful work and planning- but the rewards of having loyal and supportive donors can be transformative.

Are you ready to build authentic and enduring relationships with your supporters? – talk to a Funding HQ coach today about how to build individual giving into your fundraising strategy.

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