Fundraising Talks – August 2025

Welcome to the August edition of Fundraising Talks.

Fall is fast approaching, and campuses are preparing to welcome students, faculty, and staff for a new academic year. The higher education sector continues to face challenges such as low enrollment rates, staff reductions, and cuts to budgets and federal research grants. Fundraising can seem daunting during times like these. However, there is hope: by diversifying funding sources such as foundation grants, donor-advised funds, monthly giving, and, of course, major donors, there are still opportunities to raise critical support.

While it’s difficult to predict how donors will respond to the recently passed “Big Beautiful Bill,” nonprofits may see an increase in major gifts in 2025, followed by a potential decline in big donors in 2026.

The Fundraising Effectiveness Project (FEP) continues its mission of providing reliable data insights to help fundraisers improve their outcomes. A collaboration between the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) Foundation for Philanthropy and GivingTuesday, FEP’s Q1 2025 report highlights an ongoing trend: a declining number of donors, paired with an increase in total dollars raised. This may reflect donor caution in the current economic landscape.

One key data point: the smallest donor segment—those giving between $1 and $100—experienced an 11.1 percent drop over recent years. Other key takeaways from the report include:

Total fundraising dollars increased by 3.6 percent year-over-year, driven by larger gifts.
The number of donors decreased by 1.3 percent year-over-year.

Small donor engagement remains low in early 2025, evident in the drop in the number of small donors.
Slightly lower retention rates indicate challenges in re-engaging both first-time and repeat donors.

One-time donors, who make up 65.1 percent of all donors in Q1 2025, saw the smallest decline in giving and contributed approximately 60 percent of the total dollars raised.

As we enter the latter part of 2025, data from the FEP report highlights the ongoing difficulty of engaging donors at lower giving levels. It also underscores the need to build strong, trustworthy relationships to improve donor retention.

To boost charitable giving for the remainder of the year, fundraisers may consider investing time in learning more about their prospects—using tools like prospect research, wealth screening, and scheduling in-person meetings to deepen connections.

I wish you a wonderful rest of the summer. As we look ahead, prioritizing strategies to engage new small donors while nurturing relationships with current ones will be key.

As always, feel free to reach out to us with questions, comments, or for assistance with fundraising research!

Best Regards,
Sapna and USM Advancement Research Team
Read more in this issue of Fundraising Talks>>