Proven Local Outreach Strategies for Impact

Federal funding cuts; attacks on equity, immigrants, the guideline of law, and the country's democracy; a new tax expense; and the growing usage of synthetic intelligence are just some of the factors that have upended the not-for-profit world. Amid this upheaval, how can funders and their beneficiaries prepare for 2026 and beyond? In this unique bundle, you'll speak with foundation leaders and significant donors about giving trends in the coming year and efforts to respond to Trump administration hazards.

You'll discover bold forecasts from leaders and thinkers throughout the sector about what lies ahead, including what the sector will look like 5 years from now, and how to react to what guarantees to be another extraordinary year. It's time to shed our fear and acknowledge that those who desire modification will fail if the people closest to the cash do not have the courage to bear the most run the risk of.

Kathleen Enright, president & CEO, Council on Foundations The philanthropic sector should be clear-eyed about the difficulties ahead: the pattern of targeted attacks and federal government overreach designed to suppress our most essential liberties. John Palfrey, president, MacArthur Foundation Nonprofits are addicted to the hamster wheel of fundraising, and in 2026, AI might supersize both the wheel and the dependency.

Michael McAfee, CEO, PolicyLink It's tough to imagine passage anytime soon of legislation needing higher payout rates. Bella DeVaan and Chuck Collins collaborate the Charity Reform Effort, Institute for Policy Researches Communication is no longer background sound.

New Tips for Effective Non-Profit Partnerships

Dimple Abichandani, author of A New Age of Philanthropy. Lighthouse illustration by Greg Mably for The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

Findings from Church Mutual can help direct nonprofits as they browse 2026 and changes in generational giving. In December of 2025, the "2026 Charitable Offering in America" study was conducted by Church Mutual, taking responses from 1,010 grownups who contribute economically to nonprofits and other charitable causes. According to a post on the research study from NonProfitPro, Church Mutual shows multiple crucial trends within the not-for-profit fundraising world, including the worrying truth that donors are preparing to scale back their giving in 2026.

With that, here are 5 crucial takeaways from the Church Mutual 2026 survey: The Church Mutual survey found houses of praise continue to take in the lion's share of contributions. All 4 generations represented (Gen Z, millennials, Gen X, and Infant Boomers) contributed mainly to places of praise, constituting 74% of charitable contributions.

Organizations that have religious ties need to highlight this connection to donors, especially if they actively support houses of worship or schools. Another essential finding from the survey was that donors tended to make their contributions toward the end of the year (OctoberDecember). Across the 4 generations, end-of-year donations made up the greatest portion, with JanuaryMarch taking 2nd place, followed by AprilJune, then JulySeptember.

In addition, out of the four generations, Gen Z was probably to give throughout the slowest time of the year (JulySeptember). Those who work in the not-for-profit space needs to take note of the end-of-year increase in donations, which suggests that OctoberDecember projects such as Providing Tuesday events, matches, etc, might generate a fundraising windfall.

Key Benefits of Mission-Driven Non-Profit Alliances

That stated, "slow-down" durations should not be neglected, as the more youthful generations might still be inclined to offer even when the older ones are not. The study includes an area that information "contribution expectations" for 2026, and it is these findings that might sound alarm bells. On the one hand, around half of donors (48%) said they will not make any modifications to their financial contributions, with Boomers being the group most likely to leave their charitable giving unchanged.

Millennials were identified as the group most likely to cut their giving, whereas Gen Z was not just identified as the group least most likely to cut their providing, but likewise the group most likely to increase their giving up 2026. Church Mutual has a couple of sections dedicated to the primary monetary issues of donors, something that falls beyond the scope of this short article.

One finding that nonprofits ought to likewise understand is that a bulk of donors have concerns about the monetary health of the groups they support. Church Mutual found that 54% of donors are stressed over the monetary health of the receivers of their contributions. By generation, Gen Z was the most worried, followed by millennials and Gen X respectively, while Boomers were the least concerned.

They must be prepared to address more youthful donors' issues and be proactive in attending to any issues affecting the company internally. Doing so could make a difference in winning over more youthful donors throughout financially unpredictable times. While lower financial contributions might be uneasy for nonprofits, there might be some great news.

When asked if they would increase "effort and time" to help in other methods should they lower their monetary donations, a majority of donors showed they would; 26% stated they were "really most likely" and 32% said "rather likely," equaling 58% of donors in general. The study recommends these responses might indicate "strong capacity to convert reduced financial providing into more volunteering, advocacy, or other non-financial assistance." In the face of smaller sized monetary contributions, nonprofits should lean into other channels to engage their donors.

Reviewing Different Business Philanthropy Models

There are other findings from Church Mutual that were not covered in this article, such as contribution approaches and the leading monetary top priorities of donors, therefore I encourage all those in the nonprofit space to check out the report. The findings from Church Mutual can assist assist nonprofits as they navigate 2026, particularly as Gen Z starts to handle a more popular function in the giving world.

Register for the Johnson Center's e-mail newsletter! This year marks a milestone for the Johnson Center: the tenth edition of our 11 Trends in Philanthropy report. What started in 2017 as a modest supplement to our annual report has become an extensively checked out and talked about publication, reaching more than 100,000 readers each year.

Generally, these posts explore brand-new shifts or evolving movements throughout the field of philanthropy. For this tenth edition, nevertheless, we have actually taken a various approach. Rather than determining an entirely brand-new set of emerging patterns, we have turned our attention backwards to assess the themes that have formed our sector over the previous 10 years, and to call both sustaining shifts and brand-new advancements.

It is also a recommendation of the minute we discover ourselves in a moment of active disturbance, that combines both fantastic stress and anxiety about where we are headed and fantastic possibility for what might follow. Our future feels more unpredictable than ever, however the opportunity to produce and scale life-changing developments for our communities feels present.

Understanding Different Corporate Giving Styles

As executive orders, legal contests, and legal debates play out, we do not have a clear image of how much federal funding has actually been rescinded or kept from nonprofits and neighborhoods. We do not understand the number of nonprofits have actually closed or will close their doors, the number of staff have actually lost their jobs, or the number of communities have lost access to vital services.