70 Nonprofit Trends for 2015

Richard Perry, founding partner, and Jeff Schreifels, senior partner, Veritus Group
3. More nonprofits valuing donors as partners vs. sources of cash and inviting them into the inner workings of the nonprofit. This trend is changing the focus of fundraising from securing money to helping donors solve problems. This will be exhibited through investment in mid- and major-donor programs that require more one-to-one cultivation and solicitation strategies. We will also see more nonprofits embrace what we call a “Culture of Philanthropy,” where the entire organization is centered around the donor, not just the development staff.

4. Increased donor care as nonprofit leaders and managers begin to realize that donors are the fuel the drives the nonprofit engine and are to be valued and cared for just as much as the organization cares for its programs and its mission. A new term, “Donors as Mission,” will begin to be adopted by nonprofits.

Jeff Shuck, CEO, Plenty
5. Leverage — and recognize — all of the resources your constituents have to offer. Your constituents bring more than money to the table. Though fundraising is critical to the viability of nonprofit organizations, it isn’t the only component of support that leads to success. Your constituents’ skills, time and networks are also valuable reservoirs of information, manpower and public relations. Recognizing and soliciting these resources will improve your bottom line — and it will also establish trust with your donors by demonstrating that your relationship extends beyond the wallet.

DONOR RETENTION
Richard Perry, founding partner, and Jeff Schreifels, senior partner, Veritus Group
1. As the cost and complexity of donor acquisition increases there is a higher focus on donor retention, especially increasing efforts in major and midlevel giving programs to retain and upgrade donors.

Rich Dietz, senior product manager of digital fundraising, Abila
2. Conversion optimization: Organizations will begin to think about how to better convert existing website visitors versus simply attracting new visitors. This is a business practice that many small businesses have adopted recently and will work well for nonprofit organizations. Conversion optimization revolves around measuring, testing and optimizing the donation flow to raise more money.