Rossi’s Roundup: Three T’s & the heart of why

The second quarter of this year, or full fiscal year will be closing in a few weeks and most everyone is discussing April revenue as well as plans for FY26. There’s still some understandable angst in the air as we all navigate the current economy turmoil and the impact of tariffs. But let’s not forget: we’ve been here before. We adapt. We lead with hope.

Now’s a great time to revisit and tighten your stewardship strategies and mid-to-major donor contact calendar. At the end of this note, I’m sharing a few metric considerations, along with some helpful questions you might want to talk through with your team.

✏️ It’s time to update your organization’s profiles on Candid/GuideStar and CharityNavigator. While you’re at it:

Check to see if your organization is listed on CharityWatch Top-Rated Charities list.

Check the BBB Give.org to see if your organization is on the list.

💰 Giving USA 2025 will be released at the end of this month. Lots of ‘unveiling’ insight webinars are being offered to hear about the newest findings.

🎁 Mark your calendars for DAF Day: October 9, 2025. Has your team built a full omnichannel plan for this year’s second event? Chariot has announced a new webinar getting ready for October 9th: The 2025 DAF Day Kick Off Webinar as well as is offering other resources and webinars.

📨 Our friends at NonProfit Pro recently had an article about the upcoming July postal increase. However, they failed to mention there are 16 pricing tiers at the Nonprofit letter category instead of the one tier they covered in the article. In any given mailing, RKD has mail that qualifies to multiple different tier levels, and with saturation, many times at High Density levels. Oh, the fun of trying to simplify a postal rate.

🔍 Lori Collins, RKD’s new Executive VP of Analytics recently worked with author David Wheeler on the newly published Chronicle of Philanthropy insights report, Understanding the Next Generation of Big Donors — And How to Tap In right before she joined our agency. Using six years of data, the report shows that the next generation of big donors are prioritizing causes over institutions, often favoring direct giving or specific projects rather than traditional foundations. They also value impact, transparency, and are more likely to share their giving on social media. Many younger donors turn a business lens on the nonprofits they consider supporting. Download for free and dig in!

🤖 ChatGPT Vs. Wikipedia: Is everyone’s favorite fact-checker done for? OpenAI’s chatbot has now overtaken the free online encyclopedia, at least for American users.

🔗 Speaking of donor advised funds, Mitch Stein over on LinkedIn has provided a great six-part test to help clean your CRM. Here’s four of his six suggestions:

Pull how many unique DAF provider name entries are in your system. (There’s only 1,150 DAFs total, and even the largest orgs only get gifts from a few hundred.)

How many DAF gifts are below $18 (most are $50 and up). If you’ve got a bunch of single digit gifts tagged as DAFs, you’ve probably categorized crowdfunding platforms / facilitators as DAF donors - PayPal Giving Fund, MightyCause, Give Lively, etc.

How many DAF donors have made gifts from 3+ different DAF providers? If that happens, you’ve most likely created multiple entries for the same DAF provider and/or swapped your DAF provider and donor fields.

How many of these words show up in a search of your DAF Provider names: “IRA”, “employee giving”, “matching”, “benevity”, “household”, “cybergrants”, “yourcause”, “American Online Giving Foundation”, “PayPal”? These are some of the biggest offenders that signal you’ve commingled gift types with DAF Donor records! QCDs, employee matching and crowdfunding platforms are the biggest offenders that can majorly throw off your data.

📰 Bonterra Network for Good Donor Advised Fund is now For Good.

🤲 Classy has been rebranded as GoFundMePro.

❣ Over on the Thinkers Newsletter on LinkedIn, Ronnie discusses the “why” behind RKDians and why we do what we do. He discusses Monthly Giving Awareness Week and much more, Why we show up: The heart behind the work.

✔️ Why you should prioritize monthly giving today

✔️ A warm welcome to Lori Collins

✔️ How food banks are navigating funding cuts

✔️ Carlos Whittaker shares his journey

✔️ The latest on donor trends and consumer mood

☕ Time to grab your favorite drink and maybe a snack or two. 🍿 Let’s begin the review.

1. Beyond the First Gift: What 126,822 New Donors Taught Us About Timing ⌛

engageUSA, a lockbox and data company, set out to answer a critical question for nonprofit fundraisers: What drives a donor to give again? What moment does a one-time donor become a multi-donor. That second gift is the inflection point where return on investment begins to take shape and long-term relationships are born.

For nonprofits, this is a bottom-line issue. Acquiring donors is expensive. In most programs, a first gift doesn't cover the cost of acquisition. Converting a donor to a second gift is where value begins. This study was designed to help nonprofit leaders make better decisions about when and how to follow up with first-time donors.

They examined donor behavior based on how many days had passed between the initial donation and the first house file solicitation.

6.37% response rate from donors solicited within 19 days of their first gift

Each day of delay resulted in lower response, lower average gift, and reduced net revenue

By day 35, programs lost money – it cost more to raise a dollar than the dollar raised

Obviously, recency is a powerful driver of donor behavior. When you follow up quickly, you catch the donor when the cause and experience are still fresh in their mind. When nonprofits wait just 16 days too long to ask for a second gift, they lose 56% of their return on investment.

When you reduce the window between a donor's first gift and their first house file solicitation from over 38 days to under 19 days:

Response rate improves by 18%

Average gift increases by 67%

Fundraising efficiency doubles, with cost per dollar raised dropping from $1.02 to $0.51

Net revenue flips from negative to positive

This contrast shows it's a defining factor in whether your second ask is profitable or not.

Donors mailed within 19 days gave an average of $19.10. By day 36, the average gift had dropped to $13.69—a 28% decline.

Net revenue per piece peaked around days 19–25, ranging from $0.40 to $0.41. By day 34, it turned negative, and by day 35, the cost to raise a dollar exceeded $1.40.

Practical Takeaways for Nonprofits

Follow Up Quickly: Target new donors with a thank-you and follow-up ask within the first 2–3 weeks. This is when engagement and ROI are strongest.

Track Timing Behavior: Use your CRM to identify donors who give on a consistent schedule.

Test and Segment: Use A/B testing to refine timing windows and messaging. Segment by observed behavior, not just demographics.

Measure More Than Response: Track net revenue, average gift, and cost to raise a dollar. These metrics often tell a clearer story than raw response rate.

2. Blackbaud: Status of Fundraising in the AI Era 🤖

The 2025 Status of Fundraising Report takes a comprehensive look at technology adoption, the evolving role of AI, and how leading organizations are using both to optimize fundraising and organizational performance. The findings show that social impact organizations with the most technology integration across fundraising, service delivery, supporter/student experience, and internal processes are more likely to report revenue growth.

Key Findings from the Report:

Digital maturity is linked to revenue growth: Organizations with higher levels of technology integration are more likely to report revenue growth and less likely to report revenue decline compared to those with more limited tech use.

The nonprofit sector is embracing AI: 82% of nonprofits are using AI tools—primarily free, generative platforms for content creation. To a lesser but still notable degree, organizations are leveraging AI for prospecting, wealth screening, and A/B testing. Attitudes around the use of AI in fundraising vary based on organization size and digital maturity, but the majority believe that AI will be pervasive in the sector and bring greater efficiency to their organizations.

There is a clear need for organizational AI policies: Despite the increasing use of AI, sector-wide AI guidance and policies have room for improvement. Only 14% of nonprofits have an AI policy in place.

Training and integration are critical enablers: 60% of fundraisers say better training would improve technology use, while 56% call for improved system integration to streamline collaboration and increase effectiveness.

Resourcing remains a key driver of outcomes: Among organizations that grew revenue, 44% credited adequate resourcing as a primary factor—second only to exceptional gifts. In contrast, 51% of those who saw declines cited insufficient resources as the top reason.

3. Philanthropy Daily: Why Donors Still Prefer Mail 📬

Research shows that 72% of donors make their giving decisions while physically holding mail in their hands—even when they ultimately click "donate" online. When channels work together magic happens. A direct mail piece followed by reinforcing digital content creates a powerful lift in performance. Especially when there's consistent branding & storytelling across both.

Because here's the thing—donors don't live in just one channel. They need multiple touchpoints. They might get your mail piece on Monday, an email on Wednesday, a text on Friday, and finally make that donation on Sunday.

The goal isn't to pick the "best" channel. It's to catch them when they have both time and money to give.

Be honest. How many unread emails are sitting in your inbox right now? Hundreds? Thousands? Once opened (if opened at all), digital messages disappear into the void as the next notification demands attention. And digital frequently results in lower average gifts compared to mail.

There's powerful psychology behind physical mail. When donors hold something tangible—something with weight, texture, and presence—it creates a deeper neurological connection. It's not complicated. Physical materials involve more emotional processing in the brain. And making a donation is a fundamentally emotional decision, not logical ones.

Direct mail creates a moment of pause—a brief but crucial interval where your message has a donor's undivided attention, even if it’s just a literal moment as they stand over the recycling bin. Unlike email, which competes with dozens of other messages, a mail piece sitting on the kitchen counter gets multiple views. It waits patiently for the right moment when your donor has both time and emotional bandwidth to engage. It doesn't disappear with a swipe.

The most effective fundraising programs don't choose between mail and digital—they create seamless connections between them. Email often—but don't mail less because of that. Let these channels work together to lift your overall performance.

Because in a world of endless digital noise, the tangible connection of mail isn't just still relevant—it's increasingly valuable. Your donors are telling you this through their response patterns. The question is: are you listening?

4. Bloomerang - Engagement Amplified: A Modern Guide to Fundraising Events 👥

Bloomerang’s new report highlights the key elements of an engaging and impactful fundraising event. The study, which surveyed more than 250 fundraisers and 1,000 donors, reveals a growing disconnect between how nonprofits are planning events and the engagement donors want. While many fundraisers continue to rely on gala events, donors are increasingly seeking unique and interactive experiences centered on connection, energy, and clear purpose.

"Effective attendee engagement doesn't end when the event is over," said Ann Fellman, chief marketing officer at Bloomerang. "Our findings make it clear that post-event follow-up is one of the most underutilized yet most important strategies available to fundraisers. Whether it's a thank-you message, an invitation to volunteer, or an update on the event's impact, these moments of continued connection are essential to turn one-time attendees into committed supporters."

Key findings include:

Galas don't match supporter preferences: Galas are the most commonly hosted event type, yet they rank eighth in popularity among supporters – trailing races, concerts, breakfasts, peer-to-peer fundraisers, and more

Donors prefer text more than fundraisers think: Fundraisers rank text messaging as the sixth most effective way to promote events, while donors rank it as their third most preferred method.

Staffing is a major planning hurdle: Limited staffing is the top challenge for event planning (68%).

Feedback collection is underused: Only 50% of fundraisers collect feedback from event attendees.

Post-event engagement is often overlooked: 58% of fundraisers do not implement any post-event engagement strategies.

5. Benevity: State of Corporate Purpose Report 💼

The fifth annual State of Corporate Purpose Report shows that while corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become significantly more complex and cross-functional, it continues to be a measurable strategic contributor to business success and resilience..

The annual survey included more than 500 corporate impact leaders from around the globe. The study revealed shifts in focus and implementation of grantmaking, reflecting moves to strengthen the nonprofit sector. More than half (51%) of companies are expecting increased granting budgets this year. At the same time, CSR teams are leaning into AI-driven efficiencies to streamline administrative tasks, with 64% and 62% of respondents noting that CSR teams are using AI for grant application summaries and reviews respectively.

92% of leaders say they are investing in social impact programs because it’s good for business;

88% say their impact strategy is future-proofing their business when it comes to talent acquisition and retention, customers and regulatory requirements; and

91% say they are making sure their programs support their corporate strategy & values.

Volunteering builds business resilience. Volunteering continues to be a core component of purpose programs, but is changing shape to drive even greater business value. The study reveals that 94% of companies say volunteering helps build a resilient business.

6. FreeWill: Maximize Giving 🙌

A report from the nonprofit perspective, FreeWill released their third annual DAF report. In a recent webinar, "New research: How to maximize giving from Donor-Advised Funds in 2025" Patrick shared a variety of strategies. Here are a few:

Strategy #1: Check your donate page. Place a link to “give stock”, “give crypto”, and “give from my Donor-Advised Fund” your main donate page

Strategy #2: For any organizations who have been affected or anticipate being affected by funding cuts, try this language: “If you're interested in how to help at this moment, your Donor-Advised Fund could bridge the gap in our funding – making sure that our core programs continue uninterrupted while we navigate these challenging times.”

Strategy #3: Remember your ex-board members

Strategy #4: Ask about beneficiary designations.

Strategy #5: Suggest recurring gifts as an option.

7. 2025 Charity Checkout Champions Report' Reveals Most Effective Campaigns 🛒

Engage for Good released their 2025 Charity Checkout Champions Report which highlights point-of-sale fundraising among corporations and nonprofits. This year’s report examines 92 total campaigns, with 37 raising at least $500,000 at checkout, offering retailers and nonprofits a clear blueprint for modern charitable giving that resonates with consumers.

This year’s report revealed that brands saw stronger results when they launched shorter, timely campaigns tied to current events, seasonal moments or urgent needs like disaster relief and mental health. Another finding showed that consumers were more likely to follow through with giving when the format was easy and simple, acting as a natural part of the purchase experience instead of an interruption.

Other key findings include:

Nearly 50% of respondents cited time-bound, cause-specific campaigns as the most successful format

81% of top campaigns used set-dollar prompts — offering a fixed donation amount during checkout

Top-performing causes for campaigns included mental health, hunger and disaster relief

25% of respondents reported a sales lift during the period in which they ran a fundraising campaign

8. Donor Advised Fund Reports and Insights Released ✍️

1. The 2024 National Study on Donor Advised Funds
The study is based on 111 DAF programs that voluntarily provided anonymized data to the research team. The dataset covers nine years of activity from more than 50,000 accounts, with over 600,000 inbound contributions to DAFS and more than 2.25 million outbound grants from DAFs. The majority of DAFs in this study (81%) were opened after 2010, and over one in four DAFs in the dataset were opened after 2020.

Chariot provided a wealth of insights from this report on their blog, Breaking down the new National DAF Donor Survey. Below are just two of the insights they shared.

DAF usage increases annual giving: While there’s long been a concern among some fundraisers that donors are contributing to a DAF in lieu of giving, this report provides even more evidence to the contrary. 94% of respondents reported sustained or increased giving once they opened a DAF.
DAFs lead to repeat giving: 61% of donors said over 75% of their DAF grants were directed to the same organization year-after-year.

2. Independent Report on DAFS
Using publicly accessible data, the Institute for Policy Studies launched The Independent Report on DAFs to demystify donor-advised funds and their impacts on charitable giving.

Key findings:

In spite of fluctuations in contributions, donor-advised fund assets continue to accumulate. Total DAF assets have grown 67 percent over the past four years, from $152 billion in 2020 to $254 billion in 2023.

National sponsor assets have grown at by far the fastest pace, increasing 92 percent from 2020 to 2023. While they represent only 3 percent of DAF sponsors, national sponsors — groups with no geographic or cause-based mission, such as Fidelity Charitable or the National Philanthropic Trust — held 70 percent of all DAF assets, took in 73 percent of all DAF contributions, and gave out 61 percent of all DAF grant dollars in 2023.

The median DAF account size across all sponsors was $135,086 in 2023. National sponsors had the largest accounts, at $390,541. Donation processor accounts were by far the smallest, at $305.

The median DAF payout rate across all sponsors was 9.7 percent in 2023. This payout has stayed around 9 to 10 percent for the past four years. Donation processors have by far the highest payout rates of any sponsor type, granting out around 82 percent in any given year. Community foundation sponsors have the lowest rates, granting out around 8 to 9 percent.

9. Online Giving Is Sliding Amid Turmoil. Should Fundraisers Retreat or Go Big? 🚀

President Trump’s tariff announcements and the accompanying stock-market volatility are leading online donors to pull back, according to several big fundraising companies. Experts disagree on how fundraisers should proceed, with some urging caution and others saying charities need to push ahead with ambitious campaigns — a strategy choice reminiscent of what groups faced in the pandemic’s early days.

Zeffy, a company whose free online platform is used by about 50,000 charities, reports the most severe downturn in giving. Donated dollars were largely flat for the year until Trump announced a host of tariffs in early April. After that, Zeffy saw donations drop precipitously. For the week ending April 14, donations declined by about a quarter. The next week, they plunged by 37 percent, from about $29 million in 2024 to $18 million.

At Donorbox, which helps 35,000 charities, 2025 was shaping up to be a banner year. Donations were up 30 percent in the first quarter compared with a year ago. But in April, the amount of money raised dropped nearly 11 percent.
Bloomerang, which about 26,000 charities use, saw mixed performance in April, said Ann Fellman, the charity’s chief marketing officer. Speaking after a session of the AFP Icon conference for fundraisers in Seattle, Fellman said she was hearing from others that many donors are holding off on making large gifts.

In the two weeks of sharp declines that started April 7 — donations under $500 declined by only about 30 percent in total dollars, while those of $500 or more were cut in half on Zeffy. Wealthier donors — who are more likely than others to have stock investments — may be more likely to pause donations, especially big ones, when the market swoons.

“If we don’t see donations go up, it’s going to be because nonprofits have retreated from the marketplace,” says Woodrow Rosenbaum, GivingTuesday’s chief data officer and head of its GivingPulse survey of Americans. “They don’t engage because they think things are going to be bad. Then when it doesn’t work out well, they validate the choice they’ve made.”

Bloomerang data shows that charities that sent out crisis appeals in March 2020 saw fundraising revenue shoot up 30 percent over the prior year, while those that relied on standard solicitations or didn’t email their supporters at all saw a 20 percent drop.

These figures are relevant for 2025, Fellman says — especially if the economy worsens. “Don’t decide for donors whether or not they can give — lean in and make the ask,” she says. “Be transparent about the situation you’re in. Your donors care about you. Now is an important time to lean in.”

10. Economic Headlines 📊

For months, US economic data has shown resilience, with layoffs remaining low and business activity staying steady despite fears over policy uncertainty. But the tide may be shifting. Though survey data reflects a gloomy mood among American consumers, hard economic data has held up relatively well for much of this year, with only modest rises in inflation and no large upticks in layoffs or unemployment. Economists caution that the impact of tariffs will likely be felt later this year. 10-year Treasury yields, which mortgage rates closely track, dropped in the first week of this month after newly released economic data showed service sector activity weakened and private job creation slumped last month.

The S&P 500 just had its best month since 2023 and its best May since 1990, per Bloomberg. At the same time, the index has posted one of its worst starts to a year since the ’50s and trails global stocks by the widest gap since 1993 at this point in the calendar. The U.S. credit received a downgrade from Moody’s. The new rating decrease could send ripple effects throughout the economy if it prompts investors to demand higher payments on bonds, which in turn could raise consumers’ borrowing costs.

Millions of student loan borrowers are newly delinquent, sinking credit scores, with economists forecasting a GDP trim. Around 5.6 million borrowers were marked newly delinquent on their student loans in the first three months of this year. This month, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported that the student loan delinquency rate jumped from 0.7% in the fourth quarter to 8% in the first quarter, back to around where it was before the pandemic.

U.S. job growth slowed slightly last month, a sign employers remained cautious about hiring amid uncertainty over tariffs and the nation’s economic outlook. The long-resilient US labor market slowed down a little in May, adding 139,000 jobs, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.2%. The Labor Department’s nonfarm payrolls report follows other indicators suggesting job creation may be slowing against a backdrop of trade-policy uncertainty. The U.S. private sector added only 37,000 jobs in May 2025, marking the lowest monthly gain in more than two years.

The U.S. economy slowed to a crawl in May, with consumers pulling back on spending and businesses delaying hiring decisions given the uncertain outlook. CPI was up 0.2% over the month, while annual inflation was 2.3% attributed to tariff policies causing market swings. These figures stemmed from a hiring freeze imposed by President Trump on January 20, which caused staffing shortages at the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Due to reduced staff, the BLS cut back on price checks and data collection in key cities and relied on as much as 29% educated guesses to construct the Consumer Price Index. These conditions raise concerns about the reliability of inflation data.

The Conference Board index of consumer confidence increased by 12.3 points in May. Consumer confidence improved in May after five consecutive months of decline. The final May reading for the University of Michigan’s closely watched index of consumer sentiment was 52.2, unchanged from the previous month. Inflation has been relatively tame. A rallying stock market is also cushioning the mood of some investors.

The release of the latest annual State of Logistics Report from the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals showed new tariffs, rising logistics costs, supply-chain upheaval, unpredictable consumer demand and fluctuating trade policies have shifted the ground under logistics firms’ feet. Consultants are advising clients to map out plans for multiple scenarios this year.

Wall Street Journal reports Americans Are Finally Saving Almost What They’re Supposed to for Retirement. Workers

401(k) savings rates are just a shade below the commonly recommended 15% of income. However, about 40% of U.S. households are now at risk of being unable to maintain their standard of living in retirement, according to Boston College’s Center for Retirement Research.

The Fed forecasts stagflation: officials say a ‘cautious approach’ will help navigate the risks of higher inflation and weaker growth. Their meeting June 17-18 will be closely watched as they decide whether to maintain the current federal funds rate. The specter of slowing growth, the sharp deceleration in private job creation and treasury yields poses a particular dilemma for the Fed, which can only fight one of those problems at a time.