Nonprofits Scrambling for Sustainable Funding

“some of the "Have there been any more recent studies on philanthropic financial giving by men and women in the USA?" data!”

“Yeah I think we shouldn't give them much credit for doing minimally more than the required minimums. Especially considering that their endowment grew by as much as they gave our in their last 990. That means even taking into account what they granted their endowment grew by more than the amount granted.”

“From the MacArthur Foundation on LinkedIn : It is clear the nonprofit sector continues to face a funding crisis. Communities, leaders, and nonprofits are doing the work, showing their resilience and power, and philanthropy still needs to do more.” Today, our President, John Palfrey , shared that we are extending our commitment to a charitable payout of at least 6 percent through 2028. Read more about how we’re responding to the uncertainty and funding cuts that continue to impact the nonprofit s”

“Find a local community foundation in your area that manages and handles donor advised funds. Will connect you with people in your community and really help you unlock areas of need you hadn’t realized existed. I do a lot with a local food bank now that I never would have realized needed some help if wasn’t for the community foundation that handles my donor advised fund.”

Yes, this is exactly how it works.

“Hurrah for this philanthropy story! But also... hurrah for the questions about it and critical observations! I want both here!”

“Absolutely, volunteering and in-kind donations are important and make a real difference. no question. None of that is being questioned. What is being questioned is the idea of what you posted as being some how especially new or innovative or unique. It's not. That doesn't make it bad. If I thought it was some how against the principles of philanthropy, I would have deleted it. But it reads like propaganda. Maybe even written by AI? And even if that was the case, I still wouldn't dele”

“I do read it as propaganda, especially since nothing about the practice is new - the post is almost breathless about what is happening. It's nice, I've no doubt it's appreciated- but it's not especially new nor innovative. "This model of philanthropy is growing rapidly as GenZ rejects cash as the only means to make a difference. " Gen Z is in for a reality check. Volunteering is wonderful - I've been at the forefront of promoting it for decades. However, these effor”

“I think you’re missing the point of this post. I didn’t read it as propaganda; A Sense of Home is a beautiful example of how community power has the ability to transform both sides of the philanthropy experience - those who receive, and those who are changed by not just giving - but the experience. This model of philanthropy is growing rapidly as GenZ rejects cash as the only means to make a difference. They view currency as cash, time, social share, P2P, flexing their network, sharing their sto”

“I work at a medium sized nonprofit and currently, the director of development checks the bank every day to see which donations came in, they bring in and open the mail, then process the donations into RE. We have a couple finance people in our organization and it feels weird to me that the director of development is the one checking the bank and opening checks. I am new to development and am trying to implement processes in our organization and just wanted to see if my instincts are wrong. I wou”

“I was homeless when I first came to LA and I can tell you that everything helps , especially for one own mental health . So anything that anyone does help even if it’s the mental health aspect . You need energy and hope to keep pushing , and yes that even means donations . But that’s just my perspective. And at times on Reddit they seem to be mad at people who don’t articulate their points well or in proper grammar .. well , some people on here at least … so I asked google as far as how the prop”

“I’ve been thinking about the shift from traditional philanthropy where donors fund nonprofits to community powered models where the act of giving becomes the intervention itself. A Sense of Home illustrates this: they ask people to donate surplus furniture and volunteer time to furnish homes for people experiencing homelessness. Over 1,600 homes furnished in a decade. What’s striking is that the founder, George Smith, has talked about how volunteering transforms givers as much as recipients. Dur”

“Interesting. Can think of specific donors to my org that fit within these findings. If you come across more recent data, please share!”

“"The closest thing I have found to a site visit costs an organisation almost nothing." This isn't true. If a program manager is spending time taking a donor on a tour, they are being paid for that time - time instead of activities toward meeting the mission. The costs can, in fact, be substantial. Many nonprofits have open houses and free public events, and those are great opportunities to meet face-to-face with nonprofit staff. And one-day volunteering events are a great way to se”

“Reading this from the other side of the table, as a private donor rather than a grantmaker, the thing that stands out is that individual donors never get any version of this. No site visit. No conversation that would not have happened over email. What stands in for it is the annual report, and it is worth being honest about who that document is written for. Regulators, the board, and institutional funders who already have the access this article describes. Very little in it is built to answer th”

“Absolutely true - they aren't all well run. Neither are all foundations or corporations.”

Thanks for sharing, gave me some new insight.

“I've been both sides, and can say there have also been non-profits (especially small ones) who really were running only on goodwill and little else. That is, heart in the right place, but thought & execution were . . . Lacking. The place needed more/better leadership or management. I hate that, because there's so much wasted energy, resources.”

“"I truly like the notes of respect for the nonprofit being visited." Me too. I've coordinated many donor visits from the nonprofit side, and some of the requests have been ridiculous and hugely took away from things we REALLY needed to do, and cost us a lot of money in terms of staff time.”

“As a donor, this is the kind of real interest that makes sense. At my level, it can actually come down to being a volunteer, knowing a board member and the like. While being able to state purpose, analysis and other things on paper is important "infrastructure," the vibe can be even more important. I truly like the notes of respect for the nonprofit being visited.”

“For grantmakers, few things are as illuminating as seeing a nonprofit’s work up close. A site visit cuts through the paperwork, brings the work to life in a way no document can, and opens up conversations that simply don’t happen over email. But site visits are also high-stakes moments. They raise expectations, shape relationships, and set the tone for how a nonprofit sees your foundation. The difference between a productive site visit and an unproductive one often comes down to intention and pr”

“This starts to fall apart when the oligarchs that control all the money just start funding bullshit endeavors that benefit no one but themselves. At the very least Carnegie understood if he didnt give back directly the people through his foundation, the general populace would revolt. Today's oligarchs spend money on anti vaccine s research and buying twitter to make us more right wing.”

“Musk has a fake charitable foundation yes. He is not the only one. And of course there are many scammers abusing laws around charities. But that doesn't make charity in general fake. It just means you should look into it before you donate, especially if you're donating a lot.”

there is also people who help directly like this

“Aren't charitable foundations kind of supposed to be ideological? When you're "cause" based, isn't that inherently ideological?”

“But that's how we'd like society to be, but since we're not there where would you like billionaires to put their money?”

“Interesting that he brought up Henry Ford. He’s right that Henry Ford during his lifetime did not generally support charities or charitable giving. He believed the best philanthropy was a steady job. He famously paid workers $5 / day, an enormous sum at the time. Granted, that was for business reasons but he also built and funded trade Schools, particularly for orphan and impoverished boys, to help lift people out of poverty. He converted Henry Ford hospital to a “closed model “ where doctors we”

“Even Robert Reich agrees that most charitable foundations are scams. https://m.arcamax.com/politics/fromtheleft/robertbreich/s-4262356 From the article: According to the Institute for Policy Studies, up to 74 cents of every dollar donated to charity would have been paid as taxes. In 2022 alone, charitable giving resulted in$73 billion in lost tax revenue. Here’s the thing. Taxes finance public goods such as public education, scientific research, roads and bridges, nutrition and healthcare for lo”

“Or just be a good person and use your money for good without dealing with a lot of the corrupt NGOs. I don't know if "most" charities are bad, but there are definitely a lot of shady people and a lot of shady charities.”

You must have missed the word “some”.

“Yes but so what? What is the alternative? Just hoard wealth? If you donate to a bunch of charities and some of it gets corrupted or goes to a cause you don't support but more people are fed who would've been hungry that seems more than acceptable.”

Effective Altruism is the answer to some of the problems.

“Reach out to local women entrepreneur groups. There's always a few grant programs, you can donate to them.”

“Yes, but donations are one-off, right? I'd like to make more to be able to help more.”

Amen.

“Senior fundraisers—the relationship architects, legacy builders, and mission storytellers who have spent careers learning the art of transformational giving—are retiring. Not only are we not replacing them, but we are failing to attract young professionals into the field. And as the pipeline narrows from both ends, the transactional, quota-driven, relentlessly metrics-obsessed culture we have built is accelerating the exodus of those still in the middle. Without a fundamental cultural transforma”

“by the way, I worked in collegiate fundraising, consult in it, and have work as a fundraising executive for an institution.”

“Very large, very very widely-loved program. https://imaginationlibrary.com/international-research/ Probably would not meet any effective altruism criteria, ex-ante? But grew so big via being beloved that it probably did more good than an optimised program that stayed small? Did it generate net new altruism or divert altruism away from other goals? Any other thoughts or questions? Lessons EA could learn? submitted by /u/TomasTTEngin [link] [comments]”

“At the midpoint of this year, nonprofit executives were hit with the realization that, whereas donations across the U.S. continue on the rise, with affluent households giving an average of $33,219 as per the 2025 Bank of America Study of Philanthropy , the number of actual donors has sharply dropped. Two decades ago, nearly two-thirds of households gave annually. Today, fewer than half do. AI is one approach that nonprofit executives can leverage to address the broader participation trends affec”

“At the midpoint of this year, nonprofit executives were hit with the realization that, whereas donations across the U.S. continue on the rise, with affluent households giving an average of $33,219 as per the 2025 Bank of America Study of Philanthropy , the number of actual donors has sharply dropped. Two decades ago, nearly two-thirds of households gave annually. Today, fewer than half do. While the desire to donate is still present, a shrinking number of donors are carrying more of the load, th”

“Hi friends. I’m seeking examples of research that tracks and analyzes total funding (private public philanthropic) to a field, with the goal of advancing said issue. Ideally public health / healthcare but open to any field. A great example is by Treatment Action Group (TAG) work on tuberculosis. A decades-long research project called TB Research Funding Trends Not wholly sure what I’m looking for or how to describe it. Throwing out a net Thank you! submitted by /u/gigglemode [link] &”

“I never understood the advantage of giving through a daf instead of directly to your favorite charity?”

Thanks - I meant to state, set up a DAF. Will clarify/ edit.

“Do you have $ to invest? One idea is to set up a small donor advised fund (DAF) at your local community foundation. And then jump on board for any curated learning or connections they offer. Develop a set of 3-4 guiding questions that help you develop and grow your philosophy/ approach to philanthropy. Like: - what are my values around giving? - why do I want to give now instead of later or never? - balance of general operating to programmatic (if admin isn’t also covered no program will be sust”

Thank you!

“Some highlights from the World Giving Report's Donor Insights : Six in ten people globally gave money to good causes in 2025, whether directly to people in need, to charity, or for religious reasons. People in Asia and Africa were the most likely to give money, while those in South America were the least likely. On average, people donated 1% of their incomes in 2025. However, this varied between continents, with Africans donating the highest percentage of their incomes (1.6%) and Europeans d”

“The idea is cute, but make it event based. Rather than having one static page that noone will look at again, make it targeted at charity events. Lets say there is an industry event for medical firms. An event item could be a cancer donation section, where everyone in the room bids live, with their company logo shown larger as they bid more. This keeps the website relevant, for the right audience, at the right time, for the right purpose.”

“Hi! I am looking to open a Fidelity Charitable. I read about tax advantages of having a DAF and I giving money to a causes I care about would contribute to my happiness. I already do this outside a DAF, but when I learned about DAF, I realized I could be given money through one. When is a good time to open a DAF. What are the advantages and disadvantages of opening one. What annual income would warrant opening a DAF? submitted by /u/soulinwonder [link] [comments]”

“And what about donors? I'm a minor philanthropist. So far about 3/4 of postings appear to be fairly negative perspectives on them/me/us. I fully agree that some overhead systems are mislegislated, misused, but that's what is emphasized. Maybe resources for donors are seen as widely available and not a focus here. So far this hasn't been a particularly useful subreddit for me, though occasionally I pick out things to send along to my nonprofit leader friends.”

Wow this is an amazing response.

“For religious organizations, funding comes from the congregation itself, an umbrella entity that's officiall in charge of all the religious communities (if there is such - not every religion has a hierarchy outside of their religious deities), community members that care about the religious organization for some reason (they like its community outreach, they think the building is historic to the community or the country, etc.), or from a very rich person that wants to promote the religion. P”

“For this subreddit to be a community, not just a place where I post summaries of and links to philanthropy-related stories and resources, more people need to be participating. Without violating any confidentiality agreements or making a nonprofit, funder or foundation look bad... You could talk about what you like most about your philanthropy-related work and what you dislike most about it. You could say what training has been most essential in doing your job as a fundraiser, event planner, gran”

“Before I start: I used quotations for the word “sell” because it’s the word the company keeps using. Okay, now to the question/issue. BACKGROUND/INFO: I started this job a few days ago and I’m already failing. I’m working as a “professional fundraiser” for nonprofits, so it’s basically sales. Basically the business I work for gets hired by the nonprofit to do face-to-face fundraising. I’m the person who stands outside stores in 90-100 degree heat and tries to get you to donate to the nonprofit.”

“I have worked at both Benevity & Blackbaud. Enterprise sales mostly. Happy to be a resource should you ever need some inside perspective.”

“Thanks, I am looking at EA Forum, seems like a right place but also set up to be difficult to get attention for a new account. Will have to spend some time to establish reputation. I will have to figure out Gitcoin and Giveth, my project is exactly about tech and decentralized allocation.”

“Hi all — sharing something that might be relevant for folks in nonprofit fundraising, community organizing, or anyone who's been curious about giving circles but hasn't dug in yet. Philanthropy Together (a nonprofit focused on growing collective giving) is hosting a free, 30-minute intro session: Collective Giving 101: How to Pool Your Money, Time, and Talents for Good 📅 Tuesday, August 25 | 4:00–4:30 PM ET 📍 Zoom 🔗 Registration link It's aimed at anyone exploring what it looks li”

“Look into two specific spaces: The Effective Altruism (EA) Forum - This community cares deeply about direct global aid, mechanism design, and measurable impact rather than tax write-offs. Write a post breaking down your model there. Public Goods/ReFi (Gitcoin, Giveth) - If there is any tech or decentralized component, these spaces actively fund experimental direct-giving models on a global scale. Do not pay someone to find you donors. Legitimate fundraisers don't work on commission (it viola”

“My organization had a longtime donor—and our largest annual contributor—die suddenly and unexpectedly last August. We have modestly good relations with a few of his children, so after a period of cultivation and stewardship, we asked his daughter to match his annual six-figure gift to our organization before the end of our fiscal year in June. She agreed and made the donation. Then, in July, we received a larger six-figure donation from a donor-advised fund that the father had occasionally used”

Give it to an org doing similar work?