Individual Giving Is DOWN: 5 Moves to Bolster the Household Funnel this Year
The headline from Giving USA 2025 is easy to miss in the flurry of record-breaking numbers: individual donors now supply just 66 percent of all U.S. philanthropy—the lowest share ever recorded. Yes, the absolute dollars were up (individual gifts rose 8.2 % to $392 billion) thanks to a booming stock market and GDP growth, but the pie slice that everyday households occupy keeps shrinking as foundations, corporates, and megagifts crowd the table.
Why does that matter? Because a diversified, resilient fundraising program is still built on thousands of loyal givers who upgrade, repeat, and evangelize year after year. If their slice erodes, so does your long-term stability.
Below are five concrete plays you can launch the back half of 2025 to fortify your individual-giving pipeline without blowing up your budget.
1 . Double-Down on Monthly and Pledged Gifts
Household budgets are finally getting breathing room, yet inflation is still clipping the wings of charitable capacity. Re-price your recurring tiers using everyday reference points and stories (“For the cost of one streaming subscription, you can feed…”). Monthly donors retain at 85–90 %, far above one-time givers, cushioning you against the volatility now baked into the macro numbers if your donor base is open to monthly instead of one-time gifts depending on your current project or campaign.
2. Leverage 2025’s High Markets for Stock Gifts When or If They Cool
The S&P 500 ran up roughly 20 % in 2024, a tailwind that lifted giving totals. Promote your brokerage instructions in every receipt and on Giving Tuesday landing pages. Pair it with a light-touch “tax smart giving” messaging throughout the rest of the year about avoiding capital gains and keep cash in their wallets. Be patient, as around 30% of all giving happens in December as people finish the year optimizing their tax strategy.
3. Segment Gen X and Boomers Differently as They’re Driving the Rebound
Federal Reserve data show Gen X finally eclipsing Boomers in peak earning years, while Boomers still control half of U.S. wealth. Craft parallel tracks:
Gen X → family-first storytelling, easy digital wallets, workplace-giving nudges.
Boomers → impact reports in the mail, IRA QCD reminders, legacy-society invites.
Keep them off the same email cadence if you have the time and ability to do so; generational tone misfires crush open rates.
4. Reward Mid-Level Donors Like VIPs
Gifts between $500 and $5,000 are the fastest on-ramp to major giving yet receive the least stewardship. Launch a “Partners Circle” with regular briefings and touch points from your leadership and first-peek impact updates. The goal is to make $1,000 feel like insider access rather than a transaction.
5. You can Use AI-But Only to Augment Human Touch
Chat-based AI tools can accomplish hours worth of admin tasks in minutes, freeing you to connect with your donors on a more personal level on the day-to-day. The organizations that grow individual revenue in a shrinking world will be those that automate the grunt work and redeploy the saved hours into personal outreach.
Individual giving still makes up the majority of money given away in the United States, it’s just shifting slightly. Households still moved two-thirds of every charitable dollar last year, and they remain the best source capable of powering unrestricted revenue at scale. Treat the declining share accordingly and your 2026 budget will thank you.
Need help increasing your individual giving portfolio for your nonprofit? That’s what we do! We’ve helped increase the giving levels from individuals for hundreds of nonprofits across a variety of sectors. Reach out to us to connect with one of our experts if you’re looking to raise more money and we would love to learn about your nonprofit!
