Nonprofits Scrambling for Sustainable Funding

Awesome. Congrats! Spend that DAF money on what matters to you!

“Do you give to certain causes? Or to nonprofits in a certain region? Or to nonprofits of a certain size? Do you give out gifts on a regular schedule or as the mood/motivation strikes you? Do you meet with nonprofits, get to know them, volunteer with them, etc., before donating? What's your criteria in choosing a credible nonprofit to support? Always good to know the criticisms of donor-advised funds as well. Some that have been posted here in the last year:: Donor-advised funds (DAFs) are no”

“They send me letters to confirm when the funds have been given to the organizations I donate to.”

“I appreciate that, but I'm doing okay with it for now. I see what's going on in the world and where the money is needed and I make a donation to them. I usually check Charity Navigator to see how legit an organization is. Lots of environmental causes but also things that have affected my life or the lives of people I love. Its really a great feeling to be able to "give back."”

Love this. You went from childhood dreams to actually opening a DAF…that's a legit journey. A lot of people open a DAF and then hit the "now what” button, so you're in…

“Not a philanthropist, but I run a charity platform and we get a lot of donations from DAF. It's a good way to donate.”

All the better!

“DAF is a great vehicle for Americans who want to support a charity/charities but can't make it tax efficient because of higher standard deduction levels these days. And it's wonderful to have the experience of giving while you are still alive, rather than just willing the money to worthy causes. Congrats!”

“■ It is easy to fall into a macro-focused worldview and assume that individual, day-to-day choices are insignificant compared to large donations, major campaigns, or the work of influential people. However, human progress rarely moves in massive, sudden leaps. Instead, it expands through small, intentional acts that trigger unpredictable chain reactions. ● A small act of kindness, a few hours of volunteering, or simply sharing knowledge can open doors for someone waiting for a single opportunity”

“"is the nonprofit sector ready for a wave of bequest-driven mega-gifts, or will this expose how few organizations can actually absorb and deploy money like that responsibly?" The vast majority of nonprofits are not going to get "a wave of bequest-driven mega-gifts." The vast majority of nonprofits are not going to have to worry about how to accept a large gift because it's not going to happen to them. The vast majority of nonprofits aren't going to be affected by this”

“A lot of the posts here are somewhat negative. I get it. Working at a nonprofit in fundraising is a hard, often thankless, job. I recently had a fantastic visit with a donor that resulted in a mid-7 figure planned gift. It more than meets my fundraising goal for the FY that began July 1. I’m not saying this to brag. I’m saying this to remind everyone here WHY we do this work. As important as the gift is, more important is the donor’s story. His parents were mildly embarrassed because while all t”

“I was applying for a local grant and when I submitted my organization's EIN, a rating of my organization from "Charity AI" popped up. This site gave us an appallingly low rating and contained completely false information. The link to update our information didn't work, but I found "Charity AI" on line and they seem to also be known as Donation Exchange. Has anyone dealt with these folks before? They do not seem to want to be contacted, so their links and numbers do no”

“I've been the executive director of multiple charities. they already do things like this when it is the most efficient choice for a situation. this often isn't the most efficient choice though, so often they even have a more efficient solution than what you thought of ready. people spend their entire lives dedicated to their work, you're not going to have a lightbulb moment where you randomly come up with a better way to do their work that they haven't already considered. I feel”

“The problem with this is people investing their time/expertise/money/energy into the common good and then have a small number of people ruining the benefit for their own ends, knocks the well-meaning out of the most positive people. The common good only works well when everyone wants the common good.”

“This is a welcome move. A lot of nonprofits have quietly dealt with delayed disbursements, unclear fee structures, or donor confusion caused by how some platforms handle branding and receipts, having a shared set of principles gives smaller orgs some leverage they wouldn't have negotiating individually. Consent and transparency in particular feel overdue, too many donors don't realize how their information or their gift is being handled once it leaves the donation form. Curious to see ho”

there is no "correct answer," only different perspectives.

“It's great to see that level of funding going to support such a wide variety of important global initiatives”

“Our co-founder co-wrote a series for Stanford Social Innovation Review mapping what these orgs actually do, if it's useful context: ssir.org/introducing-ai-powered-nonprofits.”

“In the process of interviewing for a fundraising role with a private school, which needs to close out its capital campaign. Goal was around $8M and they have somewhere around $2.5M remaining. I'm guessing a bit based on available information. The flag I'm evaluating is that they've completed the building already, which obviously reduces the sense of urgency. What would you think about taking on a role in this situation with the goal to complete their CC? submitted by /u/T”

“Question for nonprofit founders or comms people: How are you handling social media? I always see recommendations for enterprise tools but I genuinely don’t know how smaller organizations are making those budgets work. We have: 2 people creating content 1 volunteer helping publish Mostly Instagram + Facebook A tiny budget I’m less interested in “best tool overall” and more interested in “what helped your team stay consistent without hiring another person. Open to hearing what people switched away”

“"the organization itself has a decent reputation" Cite your sources, please.”

“Theyve been around forever and actually run schools and shelters. The street begging thing is common for a lot of NGOs there, but the organization itself has a decent reputation”

“Automation. Power Automate or similar. Understanding that there is actual, accurate, data which the finance team wants and needs and then there are ways of presenting numbers which “marketing” needs. Those numbers often don’t match. 🤣”

“Hi everyone! I'm part of the team behind the Peach Foundation, a U.S.-based nonprofit that has expanded educational opportunities across Southeast Asia and China since 2001 through scholarships, libraries, teacher training, college support, and volunteer-led programs. Currently, we are opening up positions for our student advisory board, specifically in the outreach department. Members will work with an international student team to strengthen the Foundation's presence in your community,”

“Donorbox's free Standard plan has no monthly fee (just per-transaction fees) and includes a built-in progress bar for crowdfunding-style goals, worth checking if the embed customization goes far enough for your UI needs. For more design control, Open Collective is open-source and transparency-focused, might fit a browser game community vibe well. If you want full CSS control, building a simple Stripe Checkout or Payment Links flow yourself with a self-tracked progress bar (pulled via their A”

“There are no big donors who go to fundraising platforms and randomly look for causes to support. And the number of small donors who do this is negligible. How much money do you have to raise, exactly? I'll even let you link here to the budget so we can all see it.”

“Fundraising is best done locally. You need to approach local government and local businesses and local people. Platforms don't matter - being detailed and transparent about exactly how money will be spent, and sharing this online, is key.”

“Since sometimes people are asking about volunteer opportunities, Foundation Communities is having a Volunteer Impact Fair and Open House. Find what kind of opportunities and meet the types of volunteers. submitted by /u/dryhumor_engr [link] [comments]”

Please see Signs of credibility for a foundation (& red flags) .

Well said.

“Thanks! It is a difficult problem, as you said, it's hard to identify that impact. We have indexed every IRS filing in the last 10 years and have LLM on top of that data. So examining that data is fairly straightforward. You did share some great ideas to improve discovery, going to start working on implementing those. Thank you so much! And kudos for funding research that no one else believed, it's inspiring!”

“"2026 is the year philanthropy stopped thinking locally." This guy has a REALLY narrow understanding of "philanthropy." It's not just people with millions - it's individuals who faithfully give $10 a month to a nonprofit. It's a small business that sponsors the local community theater show. Small givers still make up a massive percentage of philanthropic giving.”

“There are no ads in Claude but I agree with you, like it or not, it's going to happen. There are ways to game the LLM to recommend fake nonprofits. How do we prevent that, what systems need to be put in place to fight this are questions worth exploring.”

“I'm looking to do some labour give aways for a charity i want to support. I have been playing around with different donation pricing ideas. I wanted to charge a bit of a premium so I'm raising extra for my time, and someone had the idea to use flat rate. Now iv personally never liked the idea of flat rate, and i think it's because i live in a small city. The way I understand it is it goes something like $100 per owner supplied light fixture - customer who isn't handy thinks that”

“I would add more to this - "Reached 1 million people" tells me almost nothing. I'd rather see measurable outcomes and examples of what actually changed. How they respond to questions. A credible organization is usually happy to explain its programs, finances, or governance. If they get defensive over basic due diligence, that's a red flag imo.”

“Obviously, the older generation can afford to donate. Far more than a young family. But, their lifecycle as a donor will come to an end and that stresses me out. Are we just supposed to continue marketing to that demographic forever, because that’s what works for us? This decision affects everything from our programs and events to our language in communications. It will dictate everything we do. We are a 90+ year old organization, and it seems that this has always been our donor base. For the mo”

“"How exactly do we define philanthropy org" I took it as a nonprofit or NGO that operates primarily based on revenue from philanthropy, and the question is about the person in charge of fundraising.”

“I think the question is more directed at people who work in paid positions for philanthropic organizations (charities, NGO's, Foundations).”

“Senior Director of Philanthropy, $80 million in assets making $106k. I've been in higher education/non-profit my whole 16 year career.”

“you pay a subscription that i pool together to give to a different charity each month. it's low-effort for you, allows you to give to a diverse range of charities, and gives you more education on the charitable sector. submitted by /u/underraps1 [link] [comments]”

“hi, groups like the St. Baldrick's Foundation, Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation, Ronald McDonald House Charities(which supports families during treatment), and Children's Cancer Research Fund are all well-regarded and publish their financials and annual reports. I'd also recommend checking each nonprofit on sites like Charity Navigator or Candid before donating. It's worth spending 10 minutes to see how they allocate funds and what outcomes they report.”

“We used to spend a good sum of money each year on branded items or gift baskets, which most people didn't want. This year, we abandoned it and instead used digital charity ecards, each of which supported clean water initiatives in underprivileged areas. I honestly thought there would be less interaction. received more responses than in any prior year. A few customers inquired about the charity that supported it. According to one, it was the most considerate thing a supplier had ever given th”

“I'm an intern at FFP ( foundation fighting poverty) and i am struggling to collect donations PKR 25,000 for different cases like needy widowers,food for poor. I need to collect donation with proof so I can show it to my ngo. so can you tell me What creative, low-cost strategies have worked for you? so I can use it in my time submitted by /u/Open_Zucchini_7228 [link] [comments]”

“I was part of the small team recommending charities at Oracle. When I found out that my management position was part of that I asked "How much can we give?" and I was told that there was no limit. Then I found out that all charitable giving was analyzed for ROI. We had consultants all over the world analyzing ROI - mostly in "free advertising" as a side effect of the giving. If the right shows, magazines, TV, newspapers, and conferences didn't cover it, then the ROI was l”

“Hi everyone, I've been running a small public experiment, and I'd appreciate feedback from people who think seriously about philanthropy. The question I'm exploring is: Can making charitable giving participatory encourage more people to engage with it every day? I started by putting up $1,000 of my own money . Every time someone completes one of the daily activities on the site, they direct $1 to one of two charities. Right now the choices are: Doctors Without Borders Feeding America”

“View in your timezone: July 24, 2026, at 11:59 PM EDT *Assumed EDT instead of EST because DST is observed”

“Hello friends. I'm working on starting a non-profit. An off-grid animal and arts centric healing campus to support veterans. I have the foundation created and I have a reddit community supporting me and keeping me basically funded, but I find myself needing a bit more mentorship and comradery. Back in my working days, I was a part of some small business incubators but I can't seem to find anything similar for the non-profit community. Maybe I am searching for the wrong term. I am new to”

“What about giving to the hospital that treated your sister? I work for a Children's Hospital and grateful families are a huge portion of our philanthropic audience. Depending on the size of your gift you can restrict it to the cancer or research departments, or you could even support something specific like patient access, where your gift could provide hotel rooms, meals, or even just parking for families that have long-term hospital stays and may not be able to work. These are the types of”

“Giving USA: The Annual Report on Philanthropy is the seminal publication reporting on the sources and uses of charitable giving in the United States. The production and release of Giving USA is the result of the collaborative efforts of Giving USA Foundation, a public service initiative of The Giving Institute, and Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. Together, the research team at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy and the fundraising professionals fro”

“The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society is a respectable, credible organization. You may have seen their Team In Training fundraising events advertised. OHSU Doernbecher Children's Hospital is a national leader in care for pediatric cancer. Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston is very well respected regarding its work. St. Louis Children's Hospital-Washington University isn't as well known as others, but serves a lot of communities not otherwise reached. There are organizations like Ca”

“MacKenzie Scott’s $26 billion giving sprint in seven years, including a record $7.2 billion last year, makes her the third-biggest philanthropist of all-time. She gave more in 2025 than Musk, Page, Ellison and her ex-husband Bezos have in their lifetimes combined. In all, 186 organizations received a collective $7.2 billion in 2025 from Scott—enough to make her the world’s most generous philanthropist last year. It’s also the most donated in a single year since Forbes started tracking top givers”

“I started a new development job about a month ago and learned my second day that the nonprofit doesn’t track grant spending that involves its biggest program. After bringing up this issue repeatedly, the staff has only set up a system to track two of these grants, and the employee who oversees this stuff acts like it’s onerous and unnecessary. I’m also confused bc they often refer to grants that only cover this program as being unrestricted and for general operating costs. In my previous job (an”

“Hello r/nonprofit , I am an institutional Architect , The National President of the Initiative for Sustainable Evolution for Youth and Community (ISEYC) — a youth-led, CAC-registered, non-partisan civic institution based in Nigeria with active operations in Kaduna State. We are currently executing a large-scale grassroots civic campaign in Kaduna South that includes: • Intensive voter registration and civic education drives • Recruitment and training of Street Representatives using our 7 Respons”

“Equitable Grantmaking Continuum Created by NonprofitAF.com and RVCSeattle.org While nonprofits are appreciative of foundation support, the reality is that many foundations’ practices are often harmful to organizations, especially those led by and serving Black, Indigenous, Latinx, communities of color, disabled people, LGBTQIA+, and other marginalized communities. This is a "simple tool for funders to assess how equitable your funding practices are." Note: the text is TINY and crammed”

“UNICEF USA is hiring an Assistant Director, Philanthropy Reporting & Analytics . You'd be the analytics partner for our Donor Marketing & Journeys team, working on things like segmentation, channel investment, and donor retention. Reporting to the Deputy Director, Philanthropy Data Strategy, the Assistant Director, Philanthropy Reporting & Analytics serves as the analytics focal point and product owner within the Philanthropy Division for Direct Response fundraising. This role de”

“Hi!! Did anyone see the announcement about foundations coming together to invest in literary non profits? I’m curious to know if any of you work at a literary non profit and how do you think this investment will change the landscape for writers, publishing & orgs. submitted by /u/prettylittlebrat33 [link] [comments]”

“I’m starting to get the feeling that I should be broadening my horizons and skill set in the fundraising field based on how the pendulum seems to have completely swung backwards in the corporate fundraising space, at least for most of the nonprofits I’ve worked at What was true five years ago is no longer. And I get that there can be a cyclical nature to this work but I am starting to reach my last straw. It feels gross and more transactional than ever before, UNLESS you’re one of the major orga”

“Posting from r/nonprofit because the same question keeps coming up in the partner trainings I run with FreeWill, and I want to test it against a broader sample. The pattern that's outperformed every wealth screening tool we've tested in our shops is a giving behavior signal: donors who give consistently, frequently, and recently but aren't on anyone's radar as a major gift prospect. That cluster typically converts at higher rates than the standard prospect research outpu”

“Hello, I some how stumbled into a $15,000 valued donation of items for the hospital I volunteer for. So the hospital I fundraise for offers In-Kind receipts but it doesn't have monetary value on that receipt, like Goodwill. We were told the business would have to get an appraiser for the items from a 3rd party to have a monetary value receipt. I spoke to an estate appraiser and she said because the items are made (3D printed fidgets/clickers) and not art, he could only get manufacturing cost”