Measuring the Success of Charitable Initiatives

Federal financing cuts; attacks on equity, immigrants, the guideline of law, and the nation's democracy; a new tax bill; and the growing use of synthetic intelligence are just some of the factors that have overthrown the nonprofit world. Amid this upheaval, how can funders and their beneficiaries get ready for 2026 and beyond? In this special bundle, you'll speak with structure leaders and major donors about giving trends in the coming year and efforts to react to Trump administration dangers.

You'll find strong 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 promises to be another unmatched year. It's time to shed our fear and acknowledge that those who want modification will fail if individuals closest to the cash lack the guts to bear the most risk.

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

Michael McAfee, CEO, PolicyLink It's hard to picture passage anytime soon of legislation requiring higher payment rates. Bella DeVaan and Chuck Collins collaborate the Charity Reform Initiative, Institute for Policy Studies Interaction is no longer background sound. It's a battlefield. Matt Watkins, CEO, Watkins Public Affairs Funders will converge around pluralism, not since it's easy however since it's vital.

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

Findings from Church Mutual can help assist nonprofits as they navigate 2026 and changes in generational offering.

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

Organizations that have religious ties should highlight this connection to donors, particularly if they actively support holy places or schools. Another important finding from the study was that donors tended to make their contributions towards completion of the year (OctoberDecember). Across the 4 generations, end-of-year contributions made up the greatest portion, with JanuaryMarch taking 2nd place, followed by AprilJune, then JulySeptember.

Additionally, out of the 4 generations, Gen Z was most likely to give during the slowest time of the year (JulySeptember). Those who operate in the not-for-profit space must take note of the end-of-year influx in contributions, which suggests that OctoberDecember campaigns such as Giving Tuesday events, matches, and so on, could bring in a fundraising windfall.

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That said, "slow-down" durations must not be ignored, as the younger generations might still be inclined to offer even when the older ones are not. The survey contains an area that information "donation expectations" for 2026, and it is these findings that may sound alarm bells. On the one hand, around half of donors (48%) stated they will not make any changes to their monetary contributions, with Boomers being the group more than likely to leave their charitable providing the same.

Millennials were identified as the group more than likely to cut their offering, whereas Gen Z was not only identified as the group least most likely to cut their giving, however likewise the group probably to increase their offering in 2026. Church Mutual has a few sections committed to the main financial issues of donors, something that falls beyond the scope of this short article.

One finding that nonprofits need to likewise understand is that a majority of donors have issues about the monetary health of the groups they support. Church Mutual discovered that 54% of donors are fretted about 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 ought to be prepared to attend to more youthful donors' concerns and be proactive in dealing with any problems affecting the organization internally. Doing so could make a distinction in winning over more youthful donors throughout financially unpredictable times. While lower financial contributions might be uneasy for nonprofits, there may be some excellent news.

When asked if they would increase "time and effort" to assist in other ways must they lower their monetary donations, a majority of donors showed they would; 26% stated they were "most likely" and 32% said "somewhat likely," equaling 58% of donors overall. The study suggests these responses could imply "strong capacity to transform minimized financial giving into more volunteering, advocacy, or other non-financial support." In the face of smaller monetary contributions, nonprofits must lean into other channels to engage their donors.

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There are other findings from Church Mutual that were not covered in this article, such as contribution methods and the top financial top priorities of donors, therefore I encourage all those in the not-for-profit space to go through the report. The findings from Church Mutual can help assist nonprofits as they browse 2026, specifically as Gen Z begins to handle a more popular role in the offering world.

Register for the Johnson Center's email newsletter! This year marks a turning point 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 actually become an extensively checked out and gone over publication, reaching more than 100,000 readers each year.

Typically, these articles check out new shifts or evolving movements throughout the field of philanthropy. For this tenth edition, nevertheless, we have taken a different approach. Instead of determining a completely brand-new set of emerging trends, we have actually turned our attention backwards to reflect on the styles that have shaped our sector over the previous 10 years, and to call both sustaining shifts and brand-new advancements.

It is likewise an acknowledgment of the moment we find ourselves in a moment of active interruption, that integrates both fantastic anxiety about where we are headed and terrific possibility for what could come next. Our future feels more unsure than ever, but the chance to produce and scale life-altering developments for our neighborhoods feels present.

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As executive orders, legal contests, and legislative arguments play out, we do not have a clear photo of just how much federal funding has actually been rescinded or withheld from nonprofits and communities. We do not understand how many nonprofits have actually closed or will close their doors, how numerous personnel have actually lost their jobs, or the number of communities have lost access to critical services.