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I believe that people are philanthropic by nature. That, as humans, we want to make the world a better place. To ensure our kids have more opportunities than we did. That people can get the care they need when they need it.
It’s easy to look at the data and be confused. For years, data has shown that donors are down while dollars are up. We explain this away as the result of inflation and the economy, as the natural evolution of philanthropic giving or as the rise of direct giving and peer-to-peer platforms like GoFundMe.
But what if it was something else? What if our appeals stopped connecting with individuals — stopped speaking to their why — their reason to give? Maybe it isn’t that fewer people are giving, but that more nonprofits aren’t providing a compelling reason to give.
To explore this topic a bit, let’s dig into what data tells us about the reasons why people give. (Hint: Bloomerang’s “2026 Giving Signals Report,” financial capacity ranks last when it comes to giving motivators.)
1. Mission and Values Alignment
According to the Bloomerang report, 98% of donors are motivated by issue alignment.
This shouldn’t come as a surprise. It does provide insight into why people give to different causes throughout their lives. As their circumstances change and their interactions with others change, they have to make decisions around which missions they are aligned with most at that time. It also explains why people who give to faith-based organizations often retain at higher rates and have a higher lifetime value.
When there is issue alignment, there is an inherent level of trust. Issue alignment for Ronald McDonald House is nuanced. Donors are all aligned with the mission of supporting families with kids receiving medical treatment, but younger donors report being more motivated by values alignment, whereas older donors are more motivated by trust.
Values alignment and trust both fall into the realm of issue alignment. They just represent different practical applications. Trust is straightforward and requires follow-up, transparency, and signals of security. On the other hand, values alignment is personal. It’s often led by creative that showcases situations and stories from the field that show connection and alignment.
2. A Clear Explanation of the Gift’s Impact
According to the Bloomerang report, 94% of active donors report being motivated by clarity around the ask. This doesn’t mean restricted giving, but it does mean more transparency and knowledge about the need and the solution.
Instead of writing an appeal that says, “Support farmers around the globe by donating today,” a more compelling ask might say, “Donate $50 today to help provide training around sustainable farming practices in local communities around the world.” The latter example doesn’t just provide an amount. It provides practical application of how the organization’s mission is being executed. It doesn’t restrict the gift for training. It tells donors that the nonprofit will be providing education with the donation.
Clarity isn’t a nice-to-have layered on top of a good appeal. It’s often the difference between a donor who understands the ask and one who scrolls past it.
3. A Convenient, Mobile-Ready Donation Experience
People are less likely to give to organizations they don’t know. Additionally, they are less likely to give to organizations that make supporting them difficult.
More than 50% of nonprofit website traffic comes from mobile devices, yet mobile donation forms still convert worse than desktop forms and average gifts on mobile devices trail the average gift on desktop, according to “2026 M+R Benchmarks.” In a world where fewer people give more money and more people are getting to know nonprofits on mobile devices, these data points are troubling.
Is this just the way that people transact on mobile?
One report examining 65 million orders through an e-commerce platform for online businesses found that more than 70% of e-commerce transactions were done on a mobile device. While the average mobile order is less than the average desktop order, the volume of orders on mobile is much higher.
Should the nonprofit world not see these same trends?
M+R data also shows that giving via mobile and donor-advised funds are two of the fastest-growing sources of online revenue in 2025. The same report reveals that fewer than 60% of nonprofits accept Google Pay and Apple Pay, and fewer than half accept Venmo and donor-advised funds as online giving options.
No experience is friction-free, but adding payment options to your donation form will reduce the friction and empower more people to give more quickly. This will increase the conversion rate of your donation form.
Zeffy’s 2025 “Donor Behavior and Giving Trends Research Survey” shows that one in five individuals said they did not donate to an organization they’d planned to because when they tried, the donation process itself was broken.
Regularly making sure that your donation forms work across devices and that they allow people to give in ways that feel familiar can make a big difference in your donation form conversion rate.
Issues alignment, clarity and convenience aren’t three separate campaigns. They are three lenses to analyze each campaign. None of this requires reinventing your program. It requires being honest about which of these three reasons is missing from your last appeal. My recommendation is to fix that one thing before adding something new.
The preceding content was provided by a contributor unaffiliated with NonProfit PRO. The views expressed within may not directly reflect the thoughts or opinions of the staff of NonProfit PRO.
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