UnTangled with Drew Daniels: What To Do Today for Year End!

What We’re Seeing in Year-End Fundraising (and What to Do About It)

The final episode of UnTangled for 2025 felt especially timely, because end-of-year fundraising is a lot. Between a heavy election cycle, ongoing uncertainty, and general donor fatigue, many nonprofits went into Q4 bracing for impact.

And yet, the story is not all doom and gloom.

In this episode, I sat down with fundraising strategist Drew Daniels to talk through what we are actually seeing in year-end fundraising right now and what is working.

Here are the biggest takeaways.

Giving Tuesday is officially a campaign, not a checkbox

Organizations that treated Giving Tuesday as a multi-channel, multi-touch campaign saw real results. This year, participation was up and dollars were up. Generosity held steady even after a tough year. People showed up when the story was clear and the ask was thoughtful.

Retention is carrying the load

The most reliable revenue this year is coming from people who already have a relationship with your organization. That includes monthly donors, repeat donors, and last year’s supporters.

When things feel uncertain, trust matters. Donors who already believe in your work are far more likely to stick with you and, in many cases, to give more.

Impact stories are outperforming panic

What is not working is sky-is-falling messaging. What is working is clear, specific stories about impact.

Donors want to know what their gift is doing, not just why an organization is stressed. Urgency still matters, but it works best when it is grounded in outcomes rather than fear.

Small nudges are adding up

We are seeing strong results from monthly donor upsells, transaction fee coverage prompts, and matching gifts framed around shared impact.

These are not flashy tactics, but together they are improving average gift size and donor quality.

You still have time

Most year-end revenue comes in during the final days of December. This is not the moment to reinvent your strategy. It is the moment to tighten it.

That means segmenting your audiences, resending strong-performing emails with intention, and sharing early wins to build momentum. People want to be part of something that is working. Tell them what is already happening and invite them in.

If there is one theme that ran through this whole conversation, it is this: generosity did not disappear this year. It became more intentional.

That is something worth paying attention to as we head into 2026.

If you want the full conversation, you can watch the latest episode of UnTangled here – https://www.linkedin.com/events/untangledwithdrewdaniels-sleigh7404689061258543104/

And if you are deep in the end-of-year scramble right now, you are not behind.

You’ve got this!