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By Richard H. Levey
Fundraising is once again the number-one concern among nonprofit leaders following a three-year period in which staffing challenges held the top slot. More than one-third of those surveyed (36%) listed raising sufficient funds as a top challenge, followed by managing workloads; recruiting staff; retaining staff; and supporting staff and their well-being.
New data shows that while a plurality of all nonprofit leaders ranked fundraising as the most significant challenge, the issue was more pronounced among those not receiving government support (48%) than those receiving it (37%). Leaders at nonprofits that receive significant government support report higher levels of innovation, AI use and digital investment.
Conversely, lack of government support correlates to nonprofits’ ability to deliver services.
Managers are taking active steps to address these concerns. Regarding fundraising, 85% reported some form of change to their efforts, and 53% made at least three changes to their strategies. Changes include: increasing investing in fundraising, marketing and communications (30%); broadening the mix of channels (29%); and increasing focus on digital channels (28%), according to data included in the seventh edition of the Nonprofit Trends Report: How Nonprofits are Building Momentum for a Changing World, a new paper from marketing automation firm Salesforce.
Four in 10 organizations are turning to digital tools to augment their funding and other engagement activities. Outside of the United States, the push to embrace digital channels has accelerated, a trend report authors ascribe to “catching up to the high digital adoption rates seen among U.S. nonprofits in previous years.”
These efforts are paying off. One-third of respondents reported demographic shifts among their donors and supporters, a result of increasing organizational digital activities. One-third also reported acquiring more supporters via social media, and one-quarter said they had raised more funds digitally. The United States led the way with 33% of American nonprofits raising more funds online, compared with Australia, which lagged the field at only 12% increasing funding through digital channels.
While individual staff-related concerns lagged behind fundraising, two-thirds of respondents reported facing hiring, staff retention and burnout issues, with workload pressure being especially prominent within large nonprofits. These issues rise at a time when only one-third of nonprofit executives reporting increasing staffing.
Staff issues arise at a time when nearly half of those surveyed report increased demand for their services. The demand increases were especially prominent among organizations outside of the United States, nonprofits with more than 500 staffers and those focusing on elderly care, social services and welfare or youth support.
Whether nonprofits are meeting the increased demand is up for debate. Just more than one-third (36%) are investigating new ways to deliver services, with only 24% actually increasing their delivery capacity. Among large organizations, 19% report service cutbacks.
One tactic many are turning to in an effort to meet increased stresses is the use of artificial intelligence (AI). More than half (55%) are either launching or using AI on a daily basis, up from 12% last year. AI-aided functions include basic content creation, program design, reporting and operations. But the path to AI use is not smooth: globally around 25% do not have the budget or resources to implement AI-aided functions, with 33% of U.S. organizations citing this concern.
Beyond budget, nonprofit leaders are raising red flags about AI-related data security and privacy issues. Just more than four in 10 (41%) offer cybersecurity training for staff, a level seven percentage points above last year but, as the report authors note, “[T]his is a crucial area worth addressing to minimize risk exposure.”
Findings are based on a survey of 1,229 global nonprofits. The full 31-page report is available here: https://www.salesforce.com/nonprofit/trends-report/
