The digital fundraising landscape evolves quickly, and 2026 will bring even more change. New tools, donor behaviors, and giving trends will challenge nonprofits to stay sharp and adaptable. To help you navigate what’s next, we asked 26 leading fundraising experts at TrueSense to share their best advice for the year ahead.
These experts represent decades of experience across strategy, creative, media, and donor engagement. Their insights reveal where digital fundraising is headed and how nonprofits can stay connected to donors in a more crowded, data-driven world.
“Remember that your investment in digital channels is part brand raising and part fundraising. The two should be seen as inseparable. A tactic with higher cost and lower revenue may be the most important thing that is leading to the fabulous high revenue from a lower-cost tactic. Measure results holistically!”
— Marcy Auman, Co-President
“Look at the ‘full funnel’ of your communication — from brand awareness, to the clarity of your message, to a compelling ask and immediate gratitude. Each activity you engage with MUST achieve one or more of the following: Awareness, Interest, Consideration, Donation, or Advocacy. Today, more than ever, each of these is necessary to grow giving!”
— Shawn Reed, Co-President
“In 2026, commit to a renewed focus on recruiting and retaining more monthly sustainers. Regular monthly givers provide steady support, but they also require intentional stewardship for retention. Offer frictionless sign-up options on your landing pages and donation forms. Clearly spell out the benefits of being a monthly partner. And make the investment in digital payment services like Apple Pay, Venmo, PayPal, and Google Pay.”
— Matt Monberg, Senior Vice President, Integrated Strategy & Insights
“That second gift from a new donor? It’s gold! When donors give again in that first year, they’re so much more likely to stick with you for the long haul. Don’t leave it to chance: Reach out and show them exactly how even a modest follow-up gift creates real impact right now. And think beyond that typical three-email welcome series and your standard appeals. Blend your new-donor communications thoughtfully into your regular appeals throughout the entire 12 months to keep the relationship growing naturally.”
— Samantha Jasnos, Vice President, Integrated Strategy
“Nonprofit organizations and their partners face headwinds today unlike any we have seen before. Whether our missions are humanitarian, faith based, or advocacy focused; local or global; serving people, animals, the environment, or culture, we are all part of a larger community that plays a critical role in our hometowns, our country, and the world. When we build donor relationships with integrity, steward their trust, communicate honestly, and treat those we serve with dignity, we have a right to the protections that nonprofits enjoy in America. We have a responsibility to defend those protections and the social good they represent. Stay informed, get involved with industry groups, and when necessary, help make our collective voice be heard.”
— John Thompson, Chief Marketing Officer
“You invest in a proofreader to double-check for typos and errors in your messages. Why not get fresh eyes on your digital user experience before online campaigns go live? A good quality-control process will improve your user experience by catching broken links, confusing form structures, missing auto-responder emails, and more! This simple addition to your campaign production will ensure that it’s as easy as possible for your donors to make a gift.”
— Elyse Haines, Vice President of Marketing
“In tough financial times and social strife, donors get overwhelmed. The problems seem too big to resolve, but they are still longing for a sense of control … and of purpose. For that reason, they are more likely to give locally so they can see and feel their impact. It’s paramount to prove that you are indeed a part of the community and addressing its woes. Having a robust digital program baked into the donor journey is the best and most immediate way to validate a nonprofit’s local presence. You will move the donor to engage by incorporating a consistent flow of digital touchpoints that highlight stories of impact. Video content is by far the best resource to leverage, especially if it feels grassroots and organic. A short clip of a neighbor receiving assistance and/or a volunteer on the front lines speaking about the mission will help demonstrate that your organization is indeed making a difference in the community. So share those clips, validate your local impact, and help that donor feel purposeful by inviting them to join the cause!”
— David Torres, Vice President, Creative Director
“Stop worshipping at the altar of platform attribution. User-level data is now little more than polite fiction. Future success in digital belongs to nonprofits that build their own multichannel measurement muscle — anchored in media-mix modeling and independent data validation. Treat every impression, click, and conversion as an unverified claim until your own analytics prove otherwise. The winners will be those who can separate performance truth from platform theater, aimed at making better decisions about where to spend with a goal of extracting maximum value from those investments.”
— Stephen Ferrando, Senior Vice President of Analytics
“Align marketing spend to audience so you have a complete picture of spending across channels. For example, by monitoring your total spend on acquisition activities, you can calculate total breakeven against the number of new donors acquired and their value.”
— Paul Hebblethwaite, Vice President, Integrated Strategy
“Use an online WCAG color contrast checker when creating digital assets such as hyperlinks, buttons, and graphics. Ensuring proper contrast throughout your design elements means your content will be visible and perceivable by the largest audience.”
— Amanda Swadlo, Associate Creative Director
“Don’t sleep on surround sound! Donors don’t think in channels — they simply experience your brand and mission. The strongest programs use digital to amplify direct mail, not compete with it. And vice versa. Meet your donors where they choose to transact across channels, but always work to align your messages, timing, and visuals to create a seamless donor journey across every touchpoint. Success in one channel should always strive to inform and inspire the others!”
— Kathryn Seger, Vice President, Integrated Strategy
“Consider how you can leverage occasional smaller-scale designated giving opportunities to capture the attention of both traditional and nontraditional donors. Maybe your organization needs to purchase a freezer, shelter beds, or a new play space for children. Digital channels allow you to be more nimble to launch campaigns that meet “real-time” needs, and careful messaging alleviates the fear of raising too much in restricted funds.”
— Angie MacAlpine, Senior Vice President, Creative
“Home in on your organization’s brand promise, voice, tone, and look — and deliver on these consistently in every channel so your presence is immediately recognizable, familiar, and trusted.”
— Lynn O’Connell, Vice President, Creative Director
“Don’t focus on paid digital media just in Q4. This needs to be a full-year program because it takes time to turn ‘Never heard of you’ into ‘Now I support you.’ When you look at your annual plan, lean heavily into your owned channels (email, SMS, website) and existing audiences (donors, email subscribers, etc.) in Q4, and focus on expanding your audience throughout the rest of the year. A person will not become a donor if they don’t know you and don’t understand what you do.”
— Joe Frye, Senior Integrated Strategy Director
“Your fundraising results can be influenced by the quality of your data. If your donor file has outdated or inaccurate data, you could waste money on campaigns that your donor never sees! Spending time cleaning up your donor file is an investment in future campaign performance.”
— Bill Nicholson, Chief Technology Officer
“Be at least one step ahead in planning and execution. A campaign to recruit new followers is fruitful only if you keep them engaged. Acquiring new sustainers is expensive, so make sure your back-end systems are able to keep up with credit card updates and upgrades. It’s so hard to pull people into the top of the funnel, so don’t let them fall out the bottom!”
— Jennifer Starrett, COO
“This past year has been full of uncertainty and change that have deeply affected many nonprofits. Often, organizations want to pause their fundraising efforts to be sensitive to what’s going on around them. Although it’s important to look at your strategy, be nimble with your approach, and be sensitive with your messaging and frequency of communication, you should not stop fundraising altogether. Your donors need to know that you remain a reliable source of support for your mission and the people you serve because often they, too, are feeling uncertain. So stay in contact with your donors, let them know they can still count on you to deliver the services they believe in, and continue to fundraise, even if you scale back your efforts.”
— Autumn Melcer, Vice President, Creative Director
“Be flexible and consider Flex Meta Ads! Meta’s Flexible Ads are an ad format in which you provide up to 10 images/videos and other creative elements, and Meta’s system automatically optimizes the ad for different placements to achieve the best performance. This format is available for certain campaign objectives such as sales and app promotion, and it allows Meta to test different media combinations, including carousels, slideshows, or single images/videos. The main advantage is that it simplifies optimization and can lead to better results by letting the AI do the work.”
— Ashley Jurado, Social Media Manager
“Invest in creating videos and images that help people to know, like, and trust your organization. People don’t donate to organizations they don’t know, like, or trust. You must have all three of those to create a donating relationship with people.”
— Melqui Pires, SEM Manager
“Make sure your donation page is low barrier and easy to navigate. Donors are more likely to complete their gift when the process is simple.”
— Kim Jobe, Senior Vice President, Managing Director
“When was the last time you walked through your user journey as a donor? Too often, we get caught up in the details and forget to experience what our audience actually encounters. Click through one of your ads or emails and simulate making a gift. Where does friction occur? What slows you down? If you notice challenges, your donors likely do as well.”
— Katie Coradi, Vice President, Managing Director
“Optimize your donation forms for mobile! This goes beyond just a clean design — it’s about functionality. Make sure your forms support modern, mobile-friendly payment options such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, and Venmo. As more donors give on the go, eliminating the need to pull out a credit card can significantly increase completion rates and improve the overall giving experience.”
— Melissa Roberts, Senior Vice President, Managing Director
“Use lightboxes to drive engagement and conversion rates by bringing focused attention to a call to action. Test elements such as timing, frequency, and creative to optimize performance.”
— Kristin Serrano, Vice President, Managing Director
“Don’t make it hard for the user to make a gift. You’re more likely to receive a donation when it’s easy; otherwise, donors might get frustrated and abandon the page.”
— Roberta Helmstadter, Vice President, Client Services
“Strive for authenticity in all your communications. As AI features flood the market and are more accessible to more people, your audience is looking for content they can trust. Aim for a genuine tone in your writing, and don’t be afraid of real imagery with a few flaws. Your donors want to see the humanity of your organization, not another stock image.”
— Katie Damico, Vice President, Media & Digital Operations
“Treat performance marketing as strategic, not tactical. Performance marketing isn’t just about buying ads — it’s about owning and optimizing all paid media so every effort ladders up to your organization’s strategic and fiscal priorities. The result? Campaigns that are not only measurable, but meaningful and scalable!”
— Joanne Yeung, Flora Nielson, and Helen Gredvig, Performance Marketing Team