Donor Losses Slow as Fundraising Strength Holds Into Third Quarter

Nonprofit fundraising remained strong through the third quarter of 2025, even as donor participation continued to decline, according to new data from the Fundraising Effectiveness Project’s “Quarterly Fundraising Report.” Total dollars raised increased year over year, while the pace of donor loss slowed compared with recent years.

The report draws on year-to-date data from more than 15,000 nonprofits, representing $8.2 billion in giving and 5.3 million donors. During the third quarter, Donorbox joined the Fundraising Effectiveness Project as a data provider, bringing the project’s current participants to 11 nonprofit software providers.

“The Q3 data points to a sector showing resilience, even as donor numbers level off and retention sees modest improvement,” Woodrow Rosenbaum, chief data officer at GivingTuesday, said in a statement. 

Slower Donor Losses Mask Deeper Participation Challenges

Through the third quarter of 2025, total donors declined 3% year over year, continuing a multiyear contraction in donor participation. Although that decline is less severe than in prior years, the slowdown is occurring even as new donor acquisition and early donor engagement continue to decline.

Donor retention continues to decline through the third quarter of 2025, though it was less severe than in years past. | Credit: Quarterly Fundraising Report, Q3 2025 by Fundraising Effectiveness Project

The data show continued losses among small and first-time donors. This pattern is especially evident among microdonors, who give $1 to $100. They accounted for more than half of all donors through the third quarter but experienced the steepest year-over-year declines. New donors and newly retained donors also posted the largest drops, underscoring persistent challenges in bringing new supporters into the pipeline and keeping them engaged beyond their first gift.

Fundraising Dollars Rise, Driven by a Narrow Donor Base

Despite ongoing donor erosion, dollars raised increased 3.7% year over year through the third quarter, extending a trend seen earlier in 2025. That growth, however, remains heavily concentrated among large and frequent donors.

Supersize donors — those giving $50,000 or more — represented just 0.4% of all donors, yet contributed more than half of all dollars raised year to date. Combined with major donors, gifts of $5,000 or more accounted for over three-quarters of total fundraising revenue.

“These findings underscore the urgency for nonprofits to think beyond short-term growth and invest in long-term donor relationships,” Art Taylor, CEO of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, said in a statement. “Stability in donor numbers, even at modest levels, creates a critical window for organizations to rebuild the middle of their donor pipeline. By prioritizing trust, shared outcomes and consistent engagement — especially with small and first-time donors — nonprofits can strengthen both their mission impact and their financial sustainability for the years ahead.”

Microdonors, by contrast, generated only a small share of total revenue and saw the sharpest declines in dollars raised. While their immediate, individual financial impacts are limited, their continued disappearance raises long-term concerns for donor development and future fundraising capacity.

Retention Improves — But Not Evenly

Overall donor retention increased modestly to 31.9% through the third quarter, continuing a four-year improvement in third-quarter reports. This gain, however, was unevenly distributed across donor segments.

Repeat donors remained the most reliable group, accounting for nearly 40% of donors and more than 60% of total dollars raised. Retention among repeat donors also exceeded that of all other donor types at 87.3%. This reinforces the contrast between deeply engaged supporters and a much larger population of donors who give once and disappear.

One-time donors — who made up nearly 70% of all donors through the third quarter — were retained at the lowest rates, highlighting the sector’s ongoing struggle to convert first-time gifts into sustained support. New donor retention remained weak, with just 14% of donors acquired in 2024 giving again in 2025. But nonprofits struggled even more to bring back lapsed donors, with only 2% recaptured through the third quarter. 

Donor retention increased to 31.9% through the third quarter, but was uneven across donor segments. | Credit: Quarterly Fundraising Report, Q3 2025 by Fundraising Effectiveness Project

Organization Size and Cause-Area Results Vary

Smaller organizations reported stronger average fundraising growth than their larger counterparts through the third quarter, particularly among nonprofits raising less than $100,000 annually. However, median results indicate that most organizations in these categories still experienced declines, suggesting that a small number of high-performing outliers drove overall gains.

Larger organizations — those raising $5 million to $25 million annually — posted the steepest year-over-year declines in dollars raised, despite accounting for more than 40% of total sector revenue.

By cause area, environment and animals was the only category to report growth in dollars raised compared with the same period last year. Most other cause areas declined, with international and foreign affairs showing the weakest performance.

The third-quarter data show the nonprofit sector is no longer losing donors at an accelerating pace, however, fundraising stability remains increasingly dependent on a small share of committed, high-capacity donors, with participation at the base continuing to erode.

“While large and repeat donors continue to drive much of the growth, the long-term health of the sector depends on broadening participation,” Rosenbaum said in a statement. “Re-engaging lapsed donors and cultivating new supporters into lasting relationships will be essential to sustaining momentum.”