With a flurry of executive orders already in 2025, nonprofits and associations face a great deal of uncertainty around funding, program support, staffing, and more.
This is not the first period of uncertainty organizations have faced over the past years—with political influences, a pandemic, tax law changes, and other periods of volatility in the last decade; organizations have had no option but to adapt – a lot.
As we look ahead to the remainder of this year, what can organizations do to plan and strategize? As you seek stability, embrace creativity, and invest in long-term planning, how can your nonprofit or association leverage relationships and evolve to drive your mission forward?
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Stability concerns
Lacking creativity
Hesitancy in risk-taking
Stability concerns
Depending on your mission or members, pending and predicted executive orders may significantly negatively impact your key funding sources. How can you level out your budget and prepare for potential funding shortfalls?
Source: The State of Nonprofit Fundraising, Technology, and Operations: Impact on Mission Sustainability
Increase revenue streams
Nonprofits and associations offer programs and activities that do not directly benefit donors or members, such as lobbying, community activism, constituent programming, grants, and/or scholarships.
Diversifying revenue streams and driving non-dues revenue are becoming increasingly important to ensure your organization can continue to deliver these services for the benefit of all.
Source: The State of Nonprofit Fundraising, Technology, and Operations: Impact on Mission Sustainability
Hosting even more events or adding another campaign is perhaps impossible for an already strained staff. In some cases, it might not be possible to fully bridge the funding loss from grants or federal funds.
But hoisting a white flag is not a plan. Consider what you can add to your existing plans for the year or how a committee or junior board can own a fundraising campaign to make a revenue gap impact. Some fundraising ideas include:
- Peer-to-peer elements for your gala, such as “of the year” fundraising champions or table captains.
- Online hosted auctions for associations or nonprofits, that can include member-specific items, such as training courses, workshops, or put together a collection from our ideas that don’t cost a dime.
- Virtual scavenger hunt, 5K, or pub crawl driven by your junior board.
- Text-to-donate campaign to crowdfund for specific funding losses.
- Simply turn on recurring giving options to your existing donation pages.
If you’re looking for other things to add to or adapt for your fundraising calendar, read our 30+ Revenue Sources Workbook today to further unlock growth potential.
Drive member and donor retention
It costs more to get a new member or donor than to retain an existing one. When considering what long-term members mean to stability—they are more likely to encourage others to participate, volunteer, open doors, and spend or give more —increasing retention is paramount.
Source: 2024 Associations Trends Study: A New Era of Associations
Large associations Above $5M
Small associations Below $5M
As you plan and strategize around donor and member retention, consider these actionable tips to increase engagement and keep people in your organization’s fold:
Segment and personalize:
Keep your outreach personal to engage donors and members. A handwritten note, or even a hand-signed, bright-colored typed letter, shows genuine care. If individual messages aren’t feasible, segment donors and members into groups and send tailored emails instead of generic letters. This personal touch strengthens relationships and boosts long-term support and engagement.
Celebrate:
Acknowledge people’s individual contributions to your organization.
Celebrate significant gifts on social media, highlighting milestone achievements in newsletters, and give awards to key supporters.
Praise and thanks go a long way. Public gratitude fosters strong connections with donors, members, sponsors, and volunteers.
Year-round engagement:
Keep donors and members connected with regular updates. Share successes, challenges, and personal impact stories via emails, videos, or social media to strengthen relationships and encourage ongoing support.
Share when your organization has wins or is facing a specific shortfall. Share how you support members, industry advancement, and any mission-based programming wins. Tie donors and members to impact; they will feel connected to your cause.
Solicit Feedback:
Ask donors and members for feedback on your messaging, campaigns, and overall organization to build relationships and gain valuable insights. Use short, simple online surveys after campaigns, donations, events, or other engagements—giving them a voice makes them feel more invested in your cause.
Weather market disruptions
The beginning of 2025 was disrupted by dozens of executive orders that will affect nonprofits. It will likely not let up and will take weeks, months, and years to unravel these changes.
Reactive giving—one-time, smaller donations in response to a flashpoint—is on the rise. Your organization may miss out on a potential windfall if you have not presented yourselves as the “go to” solution for members, donors, and volunteers. Investing in storytelling and personalization throughout the year will best set up your organization to succeed during rapid changes.
Lacking creativity
“There is no doubt that creativity is the most important human resource of all. Without creativity, there would be no progress, and we would be forever repeating the same patterns.”
– Edward De Bono
Staff need time to iterate and embrace creativity. If you’ve experienced a plateau or steady decline in donors and members, it’s time to change things up. If you don’t, you’ll continue to experience a shrinking support base.
How can you inject creativity into your tried-and-true revenue streams to drive growth?
Memberships
Consider breaking the mold of memberships at your association or nonprofit.
You may offer tiered memberships at your association that open opportunities based on dues. Are there ways to be clever with your membership model?
- Create an all-inclusive option at a special introductory price to level up long-time or involved members.
- Offer points that people can cash in for opportunities ad hoc.
- Set up a trial membership, where people get access for a few months to experience what value you offer.
On the fundraising side, can you market recurring giving as a membership model? If people donate $50 a month to your organization, offer them exclusive perks, merch, events, and more to incentivize continued engagement. Donor retention for recurring donors is nearly double that of a one-time supporter. Creating a program around these folks is prudent.
Implement gamification
To enhance engagement and donations, nonprofits and associations are turning to gamification, a market expected to hit $37 billion by 2027. Incorporate these gamification strategies into your events and trainings:
- Real-time progress thermometers, badges, and leaderboards to drive participation.
- Theatrical raffles, like balloon-pop or gift card wall, to maintain excitement.
- On-screen celebrations (confetti, fireworks) for winning bids.
- Incentives for top donors and volunteers, such as gift cards or exclusive perks.
Gamification makes giving fun, interactive, and rewarding, boosting engagement and impact!
Hesitancy in risk-taking
Risk-taking is not a typical tactic for a nonprofit or association. The payoff of taking a risk usually comes months and years later. The risk may not have the return you’d hoped for, but you hopefully learn something.
To take risks, you need resources (which are in short supply at organizations). What risks may your nonprofit or association want to take to support sustainability?
Adopting AI
AI is a buzzworthy topic for associations and nonprofits. The term is omnipresent and perhaps misused. How can your organization tactically use AI-based tools to save time and resources and support your mission deliverables?
- Repurpose content for emails, social media posts, and more.
- Develop surveys to solicit feedback from your donors, volunteers, and members.
- Analyze unstructured data for insights to better inform decisions in your organization.
- Support efficient project management so your resources and staff can be best allocated.
Exploring major giving
Major giving is an extended, long play for a nonprofit. It takes years to develop and steward a relationship and perhaps decades for the gift to actually be made.
Major giving can be an estate gift, large donation, or Donor Advised Fund distribution. Major donors are highly retained, open other doors to corporate donors and others, and are huge advocates for your mission. A dedicated department for major giving is critical to capitalize on these benefits. The return is slow, but the payoff is great.
Source: How Small Donors Become Major Donors: Analyzing Major Donor Pathways, CCS Fundraising
As nonprofits and associations navigate the complexities of 2025, adaptability and forward-thinking strategies will be key to sustainability. While executive orders, economic fluctuations, and shifting donor behaviors create challenges, they also present opportunities to innovate, strengthen relationships, and expand revenue streams.
Your organization can build back by embracing creativity, taking calculated risks, and fostering deeper engagement with members and donors. Whether through AI adoption, gamification, or rethinking membership models, the ability to evolve will determine long-term success.
By planning strategically and staying agile, your organization can continue to drive impact, advocate for your cause, and thrive.
