Weekly insights on donor behavior, industry trends, and what’s shaping generosity
⏱️ 4 minutes | Once a week 

GivingTuesday 2025:  The Results Are In

Last week, it was projected to be $4.01 billion. The results are in: $4.0 billion raised, essentially spot-on.

The headline numbers:

• $4.0 billion raised (13% increase over 2024’s $3.6B)
• 38.1 million participants (6% increase)
• 19.1 million financial contributors (3% increase)
• Cumulative since 2012: $22.5 billion
• Mean gift: $506 | Median: $75

But the real story isn’t the dollars, it’s what happened next. According to NonProfit PRO, the data confirms: timely, personalized stewardship increases the likelihood of a second gift. One in six GivingTuesday donors are first-time givers, and 48% give again before year-end when stewarded well.

What This Means for You: If you haven’t sent a personalized thank-you with early impact to your GivingTuesday donors yet, today is the day. The 23-day window through December 31st is your conversion opportunity.

💡 If you have insights from your organization’s GivingTuesday results, we would love to hear them. Just respond to this email and let us know what you experienced. 

The 23-Day Sprint:  Your Year-End Playbook

GivingTuesday is the starting gun, not the finish line.

As a reminder from last week to reinforce the importance of year-end giving.  The 2025 M+R Benchmarks Study:

• 30% of all annual giving happens in December
• 10% occurs in the final 3 days alone
• December 31st alone accounted for 5% of 2024 revenue
• First increase in December 31st giving in 3 years (up 11% YoY)
• December 30 emails raised $1.61 per contact (vs. $0.59 on Dec 29)

Monthly giving now represents 31% of online revenue (up 5% year-over-year) while one-time giving remained flat.

What This Means for You: The math is clear: December 29-31 often raises more than GivingTuesday for many nonprofits. Don’t let your foot off the gas. Send appeals through New Year’s Eve, but segment your lists so recent donors don’t receive redundant asks.

💡 Pure Charity can help with the management of recurring donations to help increase donor retention.

The Acknowledgement Window:  Stewardship That Converts

The research is clear: donors who receive acknowledgment within 48 hours have 20% higher retention rates. And with only 31% of first-time donors making a second gift, but 59% of those who do continuing long-term, the stewardship you do this week determines your 2026 donor file.

The GivingTuesday-to-year-end conversion window is real: 48% of GivingTuesday donors give again before December 31st when stewarded well.

Your 7-Day Stewardship Checklist:

1. Day 1-2 (NOW): Personalized thank-you with specific impact (“Your $50 provided 100 meals”)
2. Day 3-5: Share a quick story or photo showing their gift at work
3. Day 6-7: Soft invitation to join your monthly giving program or follow on social
4. Day 14-21: Year-end appeal to those who haven’t converted

What This Means for You: The organizations that win year-end won’t be the ones with the biggest GivingTuesday hauls, they’ll be the ones who stewarded fastest.

Why Donors Give?  The Subscription Mindset

Why do donors prefer monthly giving? The psychology runs deeper than convenience.

The Setup: Recurring donors are retained at nearly double the rate of single-gift donors (83% vs. 45%) and are 5.4x more valuable over their lifetime. GivingTuesday saw significant spikes in recurring gift signups—donors are telling us they want sustainable commitment options.

The Psychology:

• Commitment consistency: Once someone makes a recurring commitment, they’re more likely to maintain it to stay consistent with their self-image
• Budget alignment: Smaller, predictable amounts fit how people manage money today
• Reduced decision fatigue: One decision replaces 12 annual asks
• 94% of recurring donors prefer monthly frequency (Charity Engine)

Try This:

• Make monthly giving the default option on your donation page
• Show the annual impact: “$25/month = $300 providing 600 meals this year”
• Launch a “Sustainer Circle” with exclusive quarterly updates
• Ask GivingTuesday donors to convert within 7 days while engagement is high

More Info:

• Dataro: Donor Retention Data
• Charity Engine: Recurring Giving Statistics
• CCS Fundraising: Donor Retention Strategies

Donor Decline Shows Small Signs of Stabilizing

After years of persistent decline, there’s cautiously good news. The Q2 2025 Fundraising Effectiveness Project report shows:

• Dollars raised up 2.9% YoY
• Donor decline slowed to 1.9%, within margin of error (essentially flat)
• Retention rate: 26.3%, down just 0.1 percentage point
• First sign of stabilization after years of steep drops

“This stabilization shows that fundraisers are looking at the data and adjusting their donor engagement strategies accordingly,“ said Art Taylor, AFP President & CEO.

The Structural Challenge Remains: Small donors ($1-$100), who make up 52% of all donors, are still declining at 10.5% YoY. The sector remains heavily reliant on large gifts, which creates vulnerability.

What This Means for You: The bleeding may be slowing, but the small-donor crisis isn’t solved. Double down on stewardship for your $100-and-under donors; they’re your future major donors.

💡 Pure Charity fundraisers are built for Recurring Donors: mobile-first, real-time tracking, 5-minute setup.

Bottom Line:

This week’s takeaway: GivingTuesday delivered $4 billion, but the real winners won’t be determined until December 31st.

The data is unambiguous: 48% of GivingTuesday donors give again before year-end when stewarded well. That means your next 23 days matter more than the Giving Tuesday event you just executed.

Three actions for this week:

1) Thank fast. Donors acknowledged within 48 hours retain at 20% higher rates. If you haven’t sent personalized impact messages yet, stop reading and do it now.

2) Don’t forget your volunteers. 11.1 million people gave their time on GivingTuesday, up 20%. They’re not in your donor file yet, but they should be in your pipeline. A simple “thank you for showing up” email costs nothing and builds tomorrow’s donor base.

3) Watch your small donors. They’re still declining at 10.5% annually, and they’re 52% of your file. The organizations that solve the small-donor crisis will own the next decade of fundraising.

The federal funding landscape is shifting. The organizations that thrive won’t be waiting for grants to return, they’ll be building resilient, diversified donor bases right now.

Your year-end campaign isn’t just about hitting a number. It’s about building the foundation for 2026.

11.1 Million Acts of Service

When GivingTuesday announced its 2025 results, the headline was $4 billion. But the real story might be what happened off the donation page.

11.1 million Americans volunteered on GivingTuesday, a 20% increase from 9.2 million in 2024. That’s nearly 2 million more people choosing to give their time.

Even more striking: 20.9 million people spoke out for causes they believe in, up 26%. In a year defined by economic anxiety and polarization, Americans chose connection over cynicism.

“Generosity is a really powerful way to get that sense of belonging,” said Woodrow Rosenbaum, GivingTuesday’s Chief Data Officer. “I think mostly it’s just that when people see need, they want to do something about it, and GivingTuesday is an opportunity to do that in a moment of celebration as opposed to crisis.”

The Lesson: Not everyone can give $100. But 11.1 million people proved that generosity takes many forms, and every one of them is a potential future donor.

The State of Good Report is published by Pure Charity to help nonprofit leaders understand donor behavior, sector trends, and giving patterns. We’re here to help you raise more, retain better, and build sustainable funding.

Subscribe to our weekly State of Good Update.