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

Emotional Connection Now Outranks Everything Else

• Fresh research from Zeffy’s 2025 Donor Behavior report reveals that emotional connection has emerged as the strongest motivational driver for increased giving this year, surpassing urgency, impact, and even transparency.
• According to data from 1,000 U.S. donors, 36% say they don’t have easy access to information about what their gifts made possible, yet those who do understand their impact are significantly more likely to give again and give more.

What this means:

• The game has changed. Donors aren’t just asking “where does my money go?”—they’re asking “do I feel connected to this cause?“
• Organizations winning in 2025 are those that seek out individuals personally affected by the issues they work on, attend related events, and follow relevant communities.
• Your move: Add a “Your impact this month” note to every thank you and newsletter. Be specific: “$25 = 50 school lunches” beats “Your donation helps kids” every time. Show emotional connection first, then back it up with tangible impact.

💡 Pure Charity helps you track impact through our “Lives Impacted” metric on every fundraiser, sponsorship, and trip.

Markets Rally on Shutdown Resolution. The Giving Window Expands.

• This morning, the S&P 500 surged 62 points as Congress advanced a shutdown deal 60-40, with markets rocketing on news that the six-week government shutdown may finally end.
• The index closed near 6,840 points on November 1st and has gained 16% year-to-date through November, driven heavily by AI sector momentum.
• Despite brief volatility in early November attributed to valuation concerns and the shutdown, the bull market remains intact.

What this means:

• Wealthy donors make giving decisions based on portfolio confidence. When their assets are up, they give more, especially through appreciated securities. Right now, we’re in an extended giving window.
• The S&P’s 16% gain means high-net-worth donors have significantly more capacity, and the shutdown resolution removes a major psychological barrier.
• Major gift conversations should happen this week while markets are celebrating and before year-end portfolio adjustments begin. Donors with appreciated stock sitting in accounts are your prime targets.

💡 Pure Charity facilitates gifts of stock, making it easy for donors to give appreciated assets.

Monthly Giving Emerges as 2025’s Fundraising Superpower

• Monthly giving programs are thriving in 2025, with the “subscription mindset” fundamentally reshaping donor behavior.
• Recent data shows that recurring donors provide nonprofits with predictable revenue streams while demonstrating significantly higher lifetime value than one-time givers.
• Subscription giving appeals to donors looking for simple, budget-friendly ways to support causes, a model they already use across their daily lives from Netflix to meal kits.

What this means:

• The psychology has shifted. Donors no longer think “I’ll give $100 once a year,” they think “I can afford $10/month forever.” This isn’t just about revenue predictability; it’s about donor identity. Monthly givers see themselves as committed partners, not transactional supporters. Their retention rates dwarf one-time donors.
• If you’re not actively converting one-time donors to monthly giving, you’re leaving money, and relationship depth, on the table. Make the monthly option prominent, make it easy, and emphasize the “join our community of monthly supporters” language over “recurring donation.”

💡 Pure Charity’s platform makes recurring giving setup seamless with mobile-friendly options.

Bottom Line:

With markets up, emotional connection driving decisions, and monthly giving proving its power, the strategic play is clear: cultivate major donors while markets celebrate, convert year-end donors to monthly status, and lead every appeal with emotional story before tactical impact.

SNAP Chaos Creates Nonprofit Opportunity, But Also Exhaustion

• The government shutdown saga continues to whiplash the sector.
• After federal courts ordered full SNAP benefits restored, the Supreme Court temporarily blocked the order Friday night, prompting the USDA to issue a Saturday night memo ordering states to “immediately undo” any full benefit payments already distributed.
• Some states like Massachusetts and Wisconsin have openly refused, with governors declaring they’ll “see Trump in court.”
• Meanwhile, Congress advanced a 60-40 vote this morning on a deal that would fully fund SNAP through January 30th, but final passage could take days.

Why It Matters:

• The 42 million Americans on SNAP have spent 10 days in complete uncertainty, driving them to overwhelmed food pantries.
• Several states issued emergency TANF funds (Rhode Island: $6M; North Dakota: $1.5M; Arkansas: $500K) to bridge the gap.
• Your donors are watching how US organizations respond to crisis.

Your Move:

• Frame the opportunity, not the crisis. “Federal uncertainty means your $50 now has 3x the impact” beats “we’re struggling.”
• Donors want to be heroes, not saviors of sinking ships. Position your organization as stable and responsive, not desperate.

Congress Near Deal. Shutdown End in Sight

• After 40 days, the longest shutdown since 2018-2019, Congress is advancing legislation that would fund the government through January 30th and fully restore SNAP.
• The deal does NOT include extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies, a major Democratic concession, but does reverse attempted layoffs of federal workers.
• Markets are celebrating today with the S&P up significantly.

Why It Matters:

• The psychological relief donors feel when crisis resolves creates a brief but powerful giving window. When people exhale, they give. You have approximately 7-10 days of “crisis averted, let’s give back” sentiment before donor attention returns to normal.

Your Move:

• Time any major appeals for THIS WEEK. Don’t wait. The resolution momentum is perishable.
• Use language like “Together, we bridged the gap” and “Now let’s build on this momentum” rather than dwelling on the crisis itself.

Foundations Increasing Payouts, But Can’t Fill Federal Gaps Alone

• New Candid data shows 36% of foundations plan to increase giving in 2025, up from previous years.
• However, the same research reveals that 87% of foundations report increased funding requests, with 30% raising payouts and 64% giving emergency grants, yet foundation leaders openly admit “we’ve increased payout and still can’t make up for federal losses” (Source: Candid: More than a third of foundations expect to boost giving in 2025).

Why it matters:

• Every foundation contact on your list is being bombarded with crisis appeals right now.
• The ones still giving are prioritizing organizations that demonstrate financial resilience and strategic thinking, not desperation.
• Foundation fatigue is real in this environment.

Your move:

• When approaching foundations in this climate, lead with strength. Show how you’re innovating to serve more with less, not how you’re surviving.
• Demonstrate a partnership opportunity, not a need. The foundations still writing checks want to invest in winners, not bail out strugglers.

Bottom Line:

The shutdown’s near-resolution creates a brief opportunity window. Move fast on major donor outreach, frame everything around momentum and opportunity rather than crisis, and understand that foundations are exhausted; approach them with partnership propositions, not rescue requests.

A Pay-What-You-Can Café That Just Won’t Quit

• When SNAP benefits halted on November 1st, most organizations panicked. But A Place At The Table, a pay-what-you-can café and food truck in Raleigh, North Carolina, simply rolled up their sleeves and got to work.
• Since opening in January 2018, they’ve served 100,000 cups of coffee and 255,000 meals to people in need—powered entirely by 2,000 volunteers annually. Their model? Simple. Suggested prices are posted, but no one is turned away. Those who can pay more do. Those who can’t still eat with dignity.
• When the federal government failed to fund SNAP, A Place At The Table didn’t hold emergency meetings or issue desperate appeals. They just kept the doors open, kept brewing coffee, and kept serving meals. Their community responded: volunteers surged, donations increased, and the café became a stability anchor during chaos.

Why this matters:

• The lesson isn’t about federal funding or safety nets. It’s about operational resilience built through years of relationship and trust. A Place At The Table could respond immediately because they’d already built a volunteer army, established community trust, and proven their model works regardless of external funding.
• They weren’t scrambling to activate new systems, they were simply scaling up what they’d been doing for seven years. That’s the real superpower: boring consistency that becomes extraordinary capacity when crisis hits.

(Source: Good Good Good)

GivingTuesday is December 2nd (21 days away).

• Last year, 36.1 million people donated $3.6 billion, a 16% increase over 2023. Predictions for 2025 range from $4.01-4.2 billion. With markets up, the shutdown resolving, and donor confidence rebounding, this could be a record year.
• Your GivingTuesday prep should be in final stages NOW. If you haven’t locked in matching gift partners, set your campaign goal, or mapped your communication calendar, you’re behind.

💡 Pure Charity fundraisers can support GivingTuesday fundraisers – it only takes about 5 minutes to set one up.

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.

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