Major Donors Fuel 80% of Giving as Donor Base Shrinks

For yet another year, the number of people giving to charity fell last year according to the latest data from the Fundraising Effectiveness Project. 

Released Tuesday, the FEP report reveals that the amount of money given to charities grew by 5 percent last year, compared with 2024. However, the number of donors declined by 3.6 percent. 

It’s “super on-fire urgent” that nonprofits engage more donors, says Woodrow Rosenbaum, chief data officer for GivingTuesday, a sponsor of the report.  

Big donors are providing the bulk of all donations. Almost 80 percent of dollars came from donors giving “major” or “supersize” gifts of more than $5,000. Only 6 percent of dollars came from donors giving $500 or less. 

The FEP report is a joint project of GivingTuesday and the Association of Fundraising Professionals and is designed to show giving trends. The fourth quarter report covers all of 2025 and includes data from 15,012 organizations and 7.8 million donors. It tracked $13.2 billion in charitable giving.

Strong Year-End for Charities

While many supporters poured money into donor-advised funds at year’s end, lots also gave directly to charities, resulting in a very strong fourth quarter. “There was a push for getting funds into DAFs but also just to make your donations now when the tax environment is more favorable,” Rosenbaum says.

The Salvation Army also saw a fourth quarter uptick, with a 4 percent year-over-year increase for the giving season. The large national nonprofit seeks to reach a broad base of supporters: In its last fiscal year, 10 percent of its donations from individuals came from small-dollar red-kettle supporters, says Dale Bannon, national community relations and development secretary. “We’re doing everything we can in every channel to acquire new donors and then to grow major giving,” Bannon says. “It takes strategy in this time of economic uncertainty to make sure that you have enough to meet the needs of the people that we serve.”

A spot of good news, says Rosenbaum of GivingTuesday, is that data indicated some organizations were shifting strategies toward broader engagement in the fourth quarter, but it was happening so late in the year, it was “too soon for it to show up in our end-of-year results.”

Rosenbaum thinks the tax benefits geared toward everyday donors could improve donor engagement — but not necessarily for the reason people think.

“Those smaller value donors are less likely to be motivated by the tax incentive,” Rosenbaum says. 

The biggest impact of the tax change, he says, is that fundraisers are trying to engage small-dollar donors again. GivingTuesday estimates there is “at least $52 billion a year in untapped opportunity in everyday giving,” Rosenbaum says.

All but the largest groups in the dataset (those with budgets of $5 million to $25 million), saw growth in dollars raised in 2025. Environmental groups had the largest increase, at 6.6 percent. International and foreign affairs groups saw the biggest decrease, at 4.7 percent. 

Retention Flat; Volunteerism, Engagement Can Help

For the first time in years, donor retention essentially held steady, Rosenbaum says,  with incremental growth of 0.2 percent.

To keep donors engaged, especially first-time donors, it’s important to reach out to them early and often, says Tim Sarrantonio, founder of the Generosity Spectrum and chairman of the FEP Steering Committee. 

“Focus on the first experience,” Sarrantonio suggests. “If someone gives and doesn’t feel seen, doesn’t understand what happened because of their gift, they don’t come back. A fast thank you, a clear outcome, a human follow-up. It’s less about messaging and more about what you make people feel early on.”

Rosenbaum cautions against abandoning long-time contributors in a push to steward new donors; it’s important to be doing both. And communication needs to be varied to keep all donors engaged.

“People are not tired of hearing from your organization, but they might be tired of the same old messages all of the time,” he says. “It shouldn’t all be asks. Nonprofits should give people lots of on-ramps into supporting the mission, including volunteering opportunities or advocacy.”

Bannon, with the Salvation Army, notes that the organization has  seen strong growth in volunteerism.

“You might not be able to give financially, but if you can ring a bell for us, we’ll put you to work,” he says. “It just reminds people that we’re all in this together, and every contribution matters. More people now, I think, want to be re-engaged with local charities.”