Our predictions for fundraising in 2026

Every January, we pause to look ahead at what the coming year might bring for the charity sector. After a turbulent 2025, many organisations are entering 2026 balancing cautious optimism with very real pressures on income, teams and capacity.

This year’s predictions reflect that reality. They speak to stability after uncertainty, the growing importance of human connection in an AI-enabled world, and the practical changes charities will need to make across fundraising, data, partnerships and people.

Below, our team shares their perspectives on what will shape fundraising in 2026.

Stability, confidence and holding nerve

After a year marked by cost pressures and difficult decisions, there is cautious optimism that 2026 will bring greater clarity for many organisations.

Michelle Chambers, Chief Executive

“After the turbulent times experienced by the not for profit sector in 2025, this year will bring more certainty about organisational priorities and the cost base that has to be covered. This more stable operating environment will reduce the levels of stress and burnout that we have seen. Those charities who continue to invest in developing and growing fundraising will reap the reward of holding nerve and keeping the faith.

“The human touch, which has always been a key part of charities’ DNA, will increasingly become a differentiator from other sectors who seek to cut costs by accelerating the use of AI interventions. Charities should protect their authenticity by using AI behind the scenes but not as the leading actor.

“Data remains THE number one business asset and the charities who really reap the rewards of a focus on data will be those who follow through on replacing their CRM system with investment in the people and tools needed to extract and interpret insights.”

Supporter experience, stewardship and retention

As acquisition becomes more expensive and constrained, charities will need to deepen relationships with the supporters they already have. Many predictions this year point to supporter experience becoming even more intentional, human and joined-up.

Amanda Warhaftig, Senior Consultant

“Supporter Care teams will continue to evolve into multi-channel stewardship hubs, taking on more proactive engagement. Many charities have already begun bringing outbound supporter calls in-house, recognising that these warm, human interactions deepen loyalty more effectively than outsourced activity.

“This year I expect to see Supporter Care teams growing their roles as relationship-builders, delivering personalised welcome calls, thank-you calls, retention check-ins and rapid-response stewardship following appeals or emergencies. This evolution marks a growing recognition that the operational end of fundraising holds some of the most skilled communicators in the organisation, and that when these teams are empowered, trained and resourced properly, they can significantly increase lifetime value and improve the overall supporter experience.”

Emma O’Reilly, Senior Consultant

“As it gets harder and more expensive to bring new supporters in, charities are going to have to get much better at looking after the ones they already have. We’re seeing acquisition challenged from all sides — constrained volumes in some channels; rising costs in others — and that will force a shift away from charities purely focusing on chasing new supporters without thinking about the experience they need to deliver to ensure long-term support and value.

“In 2026, the charities that do better will be the ones that genuinely focus on retention and supporter experience, and invest in proper journey thinking that’s built around lifetime value and meaningful touchpoints.

“What’s changing now is that this isn’t just a ‘big charity’ conversation anymore. Smaller charities that may have felt this didn’t apply to them will need to get clear on what good supporter experience looks like in their world, because simply chasing acquisition volume isn’t going to be enough to drive sustainable income into the future.”

Community fundraising – acquisition and data foundations

Community fundraising remains a vital entry point for many supporters, but it has not yet fully recovered from recent years.

Gary Kernahan, Executive Director

“Community fundraising was the income stream hardest hit the pandemic and has yet to make a full recovery.

“We’ve seen a huge reduction in the number of DIY fundraisers (down 44%) but the average value of these supporters has increased (up from £672 in 2023 to £701 in 2024).

“Moving into 2026, I expect to see a greater focus on acquisition either through dedicated roles, marketing campaigns and products. Furthermore, there needs to be a greater focus on data architecture. We believe community fundraising is a key entry point to charities for so many, but so few community teams have the systems in place to enable them to monitor and report on this.”

Digital, AI and the rise of new disciplines

Artificial intelligence continues to move from theory into practice. In 2026, charities will need to be clearer about how they use it, where it adds value, and what new skills and approaches are required.

Matt Smith, Managing Director

“The rise of GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation) will be a key trend of 2026, as AI moves from the theoretical to the very practical. GEO is the art and science of tailoring your online content so that generative AI systems surface, summarise and point back to it more effectively. Think about how you see search returns at the top of Google now or when you ask a specific question of ChatGPT — how is your charity or fundraising campaign appearing in these AI search returns? That’s GEO.”

Steven White, Director of THINK Data

“In 2026, AI hopefully will start to shift from experimentation to everyday use in charity insight teams. For those charities with a Microsoft stack, Copilot is likely and should become part of Data and Insight daily operations.

“AI tools will continue to proliferate as will supplier offerings, creating both opportunity and complexity. Charities will need to focus on clear use cases across traditional AI, generative AI, and agentic AI.

“Governance will become even more important and new policies on AI will be created by all charities and evolve.

“Having said all this, many things I read miss the key point around what makes data analysts GREAT. It is the soft skills which are not talked about enough. No AI tool is going to answer questions around what decision needs to change, what insight will drive better decisions, or what business processes need to change. Mastering soft skills and business expertise should be the data and insight skillset for 2026.”

Becky Steeden, Consultant

“During 2025 we started to see a backlash against AI on social media – not just fatigue/suspicion of AI-generated content, but growing concern about ethics, environmental impact, deep fakes and misuse more broadly. As a result, people are increasingly questioning whether what they see online is real, even when it is genuinely human-created.

“Non-profit digital teams will need to be really clear about when and how AI is used, particularly in creative and content development. Having an agreed, organisation-wide stance on acceptable AI use and being able to articulate it confidently is now essential.

“As public scepticism grows, social media has become less about gaming algorithms (which I think most of us have realised isn’t possible anymore, if it ever was) and more about earning belief. Clarity, ethics and human judgement won’t slow charities down; it’ll be what sets trusted organisations apart.”

High value giving, intermediaries and transparency

Philanthropy continues to evolve, with intermediaries playing a growing role and expectations around transparency increasing.

Simon Dickson, Senior Consultant

“The philanthropy growth area is intermediaries. Wealth and philanthropy advisors are helping philanthropists with strategic giving and Donor Advised Funds are increasingly the giving vehicle of choice for High Net Worth Individuals.

This means charities need to have a strategy to engage with and attract funding via this route. Intermediaries seek beneficiaries. How are you standing out? And linked to that, how are you reporting back? We are seeing a greater demand for transparency and reporting and charities responding to that need by being much more creative in the way they report impact.”

Corporate partnerships, impact and co-investment

Diversification efforts are accelerating, particularly through corporate partnerships that go beyond traditional donations.

Michelle Sorrell, Director of Consultancy & Forums

“In 2026 impact reporting will become live, transparent and business-aligned, with companies wanting dashboards and continuous data rather than annual summaries.

“Corporate funding will move from donations to co-investment models. Unrestricted funds, blended finance and working on programmes where the partnership improves what the charity is already doing whilst also testing new ideas at the same time will become mainstream.

“Partnerships have been shifting from short-term transactions to long-term structural models for some time now but this is accelerating at speed and will require stronger governance, data infrastructure and co-creation capacity by charities and companies.”

Regulation, compliance and confidence

Alongside innovation, charities will continue to navigate a complex regulatory environment.

John Brady, Consultant

“Work on implementation of the new Code of Fundraising Practice will rumble on into 2026 as many charities get to grips with the principle of the Code, particularly as they find an appropriate balance on documenting decisions.

The next compliance challenge will be around the new Charity Soft Opt-In. There may be potential for a later implementation of charity soft opt-in as a result of concerns raised by charities about how restrictive the guidance may be.”

Recruitment, skills and the future workforce

People remain at the heart of everything charities do. In 2026, clarity, leadership and adaptability will matter more than ever.

Jo McGuinness, Senior Recruitment Manager

“2026 will reward organisations that stop being vague about the flexibility and workplace culture they offer. Charities who continue to rely on informal flexibility will struggle to retain talent.

Organisations will face the choice of investing in coaching and leadership development or seeing talent leave. Where organisations don’t upskill managers to lead in people-first ways, churn will continue.

Across 2026 we are likely to see interim support used more deliberately rather than solely short-notice fire-fighting.”

Jason Jederon, Recruitment Consultant

“As charities look for ways to tighten their belts and have better control over costs, I can see more merging of roles and skills across fundraising disciplines. At the core of all these disciplines is relationships.

Secondly, AI. It is here to stay and how charities and individuals choose to embrace it will have an impact. Whether it’s used in proposal writing, talent management, or candidate sourcing it will affect our roles in the future.”

Looking ahead

Taken together, these predictions point to a year where clarity, confidence and capability matter as much as innovation. The charities that succeed in 2026 will be those that invest in people, protect human connection, use data and AI with intent, and stay focused on long-term value rather than short-term fixes.

We’d love to hear your thoughts. What do you think will shape fundraising in 2026?

With warmest wishes,

The THINK team
January 2026

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If you would like to discuss our THINKing further, please contact our central office on info@thinkcs.org. You can also find us on LinkedIn at THINK Consulting Solutions, where we share useful industry insights.