What Trends Will Nonprofits Face in 2026? Share Your Predictions

By Amanda L. Cole

Every year, NonProfit PRO’s “40 Nonprofit Trends” report gives leaders a snapshot of what’s coming next, and how their peers across the sector are getting ready for it. In 2024 and 2025, contributors flagged everything from AI experimentation and data privacy concerns to donor declines, staffing challenges and election-year pressure on charitable dollars.

Now we’re building the 2026 edition, and we’re opening the call for trend predictions. We want to hear what you’re seeing on the ground — what’s changing, what’s worrying you and where you’re starting to see promising results.

If your trend is selected, it will be included in “40 Nonprofit Trends for 2026” with your name, title and organization, alongside other nonprofit professionals, consultants, technologists and educators.

What We’re Seeking

We’re especially interested in practical, future-focused ideas — the shifts you expect to define the year ahead, not just what’s happening right now.

For the 2026 edition, we’re asking for trends across six categories:

Sector Shifts. External forces — political, economic, policy or cultural — that you expect to reshape the nonprofit landscape in 2026, and how you think nonprofits should respond.
Fundraising. New approaches, revenue models or partnership ideas that could move the needle on results — from non-cash assets to subscription-style giving and collaborative campaigns.
Technology. Emerging tools or data practices that you believe will move from pilot to must-have in 2026, whether that’s AI, predictive analytics, digital wallets or something else entirely.
Donor Engagement and Behavior. How donor expectations and behaviors are shifting — and how nonprofits will need to adapt engagement, messaging and stewardship to keep people giving.
Leadership and Board Strategy. The leadership, workforce and board practices that will strengthen nonprofits in 2026, as well as emerging risks around talent, culture or governance you think organizations can’t ignore.
Storytelling. New or evolving approaches to storytelling that will help nonprofits cut through noise and communicate impact in ways that build trust with donors and communities.

You can submit up to six trends, but please limit yourself to one trend per category. For complete details and to submit your predictions, visit our 40 Trends submission form. The deadline to submit your thoughts is Jan. 5, 2025.

We’ll reveal the top 40 trends in early 2026. Subscribe to NonProfit PRO’s e-newsletter to be among the first to have access to the list.

To see this year’s edition, download NonProfit PRO’s “40 Nonprofit Trends for 2025” here.