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6 Insights to Inspire Diversifying Revenue Streams  Most nonprofit organizations report increasing revenue is a top priority in 2025. With ever-changing economic conditions and looming federal funding freezes, now is the time to review your nonprofit’s plans for the year.   Consider new ideas, expand on your current streams, and get creative with your appeals. Data shows that organizations with diverse revenue streams are more resilient and better able to find sustainable growth in the face of economic changes.    1. We recently asked nonprofit professionals which revenue streams their organizations depend on to fund their mission and programs. The following are listed in order from most to least used.  1. Individual Donations  2. Grants  3. Corporate Donations  4. Events  5. Monthly Giving Programs   6. Direct Services   7. Giving Tuesday  8. Planned Giving  9. Membership Dues  10. Peer-to-Peer    Evaluate your organization’s mix and identify opportunities where you can diversify to achieve overall growth.    2. Boost your bottom line by appealing to your donors with recurring giving. Not only do recurring giving donors have a higher retention rate, but they also trend higher in annual donation amounts than one-time donors.  Stat(s)  Recurring donors give 42% more per year than those who make a one-time gift  On average, recurring giving accounts for 10% of a nonprofit’s incoming, unrestricted revenue  Recurring donors average 2x the retention of one-time donors    3. Running a peer-to-peer campaign or adding social fundraising to your planned campaigns can significantly impact your revenue. Let your volunteers, staff, board, and other supporters appeal to their networks on your behalf!  Stat(s)  $17,964.50  average amount raised by peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns     4. Has your organization considered a donor-advised fund (DAF)?   Donor-advised funds (DAFs) are one of the fastest-growing categories of charitable contributions.  Connect with DAF managers, and make sure your organization's information is accurate in any portal they use to make distributions.   Stat(s)   Annual grants from DAFs have more than doubled since 2019, to $54.8 billion in 2023  DAF payout rate is steady, at about 24%    5. Diversify funds and double your potential fundraising revenue by seeking and securing matching gifts.   Stat(s)  $2.86 billion is donated through matching gift programs annually  An estimated $4–$7 billion in matching gift funds goes unclaimed per year  92% of companies surveyed offer at least one kind of gift-matching program     6.   To make up for U.S. government grant deficits in 2025, private foundations would have to increase their grantmaking by 282%.        Insight  The U.S. federal funding freeze is creating alarming uncertainty.  Now is the time for your organization to stay determined and refine a scalable, strategic fundraising plan. Shifting focus to private grants, donor and sponsor stewardship, legacy planning, and other revenue streams can set your mission up for success. 

6 Insights to Inspire Diversifying Revenue Streams

Amidst rapidly shifting economic conditions and federal funding freezes, increasing revenue should be a key priority for nonprofits in 2025.   By leveraging a variety of nonprofit revenue streams, organizations can not only meet immediate fiscal…

Challenge Accepted: Using Competition to Elevate Your Fundraising

Date: Wednesday, May 21, 2025 Time: 12 p.m. CT / 1 p.m. ET Looking to energize your campaigns or events and inspire donors to give more? Discover how to add excitement, increase donor engagement, and…

GiveSmart: All-in-One Fundraising Solution Preview

Date: Wednesday, May 28, 2025 Time: 1 p.m. CT / 2 p.m. ET Is your organization actively searching for a new all-in-one solution that can meet your fundraising, events, and donor management needs? Look no…

Weathering federal uncertainty in 2025: Nonprofit Trends Study

Date: Wednesday, May 14, 2025 Time: 12:00 ET How Top-Performing Nonprofits Grow Revenue Through Optimism, Flexibility, and Futureproofing Join us for an exclusive first look into the latest research study. We’ve gone deep into the…

Recurring Giving Appeal Templates

Sample e-mails, social media posts, and text messages for fundraising success  Recurring donors average 2x the retention of one-time donors.1 This stable, year-round revenue stream fuels reliable, long-term sustainability for your organization.   Our prewritten recurring…

From Boomers to Gen Z: Giving Trends by Generation

Data shows—every generation gives differently. Does your nonprofit’s strategy reflect that? Understanding donor behavior across generations is key to unlocking new revenue opportunities and strengthening donor relationships. In this webinar, we’ll break down the latest…

2024 Impact Report

It was another growth year at GiveSmart; our partner organizations raised a record-breaking amount in 2024, supporting the missions and communities they serve. This report highlights our customers’ fundraising achievements and offers insight into their…

Say Goodbye to Busywork: Automation Features That Let You Focus on Impact

Date: March 20, 2025 Time: 1 p.m. CT / 2 p.m. ET Too much time spent on manual tasks can take you away from what really matters—advancing your mission and increasing your revenue. This review…

Don’t Fumble: Common Event Mistakes to Avoid

Date: February 12, 2025 Time: 1 p.m. CT / 2 p.m. ET Are you making the right play calls for your fundraising events? As you plan and host your gala, golf-outing, walk/run, or other fundraising…

Teamwork Makes the Dream Work: Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Features in Action

Date: February 19, 2025 Time: 1 p.m. CT / 2 p.m. ET The top 30 peer-to-peer programs grew 3.2%, raising $1.1B in 2023.* Turning to peer-to-peer events or infusing this volunteer fundraising strategy into existing ones,…

PCI Compliance 4.0 & Security Best Practices 

Date: January 30, 2025 Time: 11 a.m. PT | 1 p.m. CT | 2 p.m. ET Is your website secure? Are your payment processes PCI compliant? GiveSmart, NetForum and Aptify are here to help you…

Think Outside the Donation Box: Exploring Revenue Streams for Nonprofits in 2025

Date: January 21, 2025 Time: 1 p.m. CT / 2 p.m. ET Nonprofit staff are known for being resourceful and resilient. The upcoming year may test your limits. As demands for your programs and services…

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We needed a platform to make sales online and to track and display ads for our sponsors. GiveSmart was perfect. We ended up making close to $15,000 more than we had hoped for. Definite better ROI than we anticipated. The interface is easy to use and provides plenty of options to get help if needed.

Michelle M.

The Rotary Club of South Whidbey Island

Using GS has created ease in auction bookkeeping, payments, and generating post-event thank you/tax letters. While we were online during COVID, our interactions with our GiveSmart via phone, email, and zoom were seamless. A representative always got back to us within the day. I would recommend GiveSmart to anyone doing a large online event.

Julie G.

MicroFinancing Partners in Africa

GiveSmart is highly flexible - you can use it for [a] simple registration and check-in, to full-scale galas with complex order forms, onsite upsells, live auctions, seating management, and more.

Jamie F.

Hope Chest for Breast Cancer

GiveSmart is easy to use and ideal for virtual events and can be used for in-person events to manage the silent auction, seating charts, and check-in to the event. Being able to use the platform for unlimited events within the contract year is very useful and being able to add other users and volunteers for different levels of access is helpful as well.

Dawn L.

Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County