Not-for-Profit Navigator
With Nicole Aebi-Moyo - SalesFix For Purpose Practice Lead
The end of the Australian financial year has just come and gone and like many I received emails from various for purpose organisations asking me to contribute to their end of financial year appeal. Nothing new there and therein lies the problem.
I didn’t donate to a single EOFY appeal this year, I donated plenty of times throughout the rest of the year but the tax benefits of donating were definitely not a motivator for me. Which is the case for 80% of Australians (according to recent research from Equity Trustees as reported in an article from the Institute of Community Directors).
In this month’s edition of the Nonprofit Navigator we look at what for purpose organisations can do to reinvigorate their fundraising by targeting different demographics through innovative technology approaches.
The Age of Appeals is Dead: long live continuous fundraising
SalesFix runs a Fundraising Community of Practice that meets every month to discuss a range of topics related to fundraising, Salesforce and all things tech (ping me if you’d like to be added to the meeting invite). When we launched the COP in early 2024, one of the first “heated debates” we had was whether appeals were still a valid method of fundraising for organisations.
I argued that an appeal is very much driven by the timelines and needs of the organisation, not the donor and they often come at peak periods: competing with every other organisation doing an appeal. The counterargument was that for many organisations, appeals bring in the largest proportion of income each year and so stepping away from this model is risky. And of course for some donors, this is the only time they donate. It’s the expected model.
But it isn’t the only model and this is where better use of technology can come into play.
Fundraising has always been about people. Relationships, stories, trust. But how those relationships are nurtured, and how donations are made, is changing fast. Emerging technologies and shifting donor behaviours are pushing for purpose organisations to reimagine how they engage supporters and raise funds.
How can you use technology to add to (rather than ditch entirely) your appeal based fundraising? How can you make your asks at a time and in a way that suits your donors, not you?
Here are four future-facing fundraising trends that Australian for purpose organisations should be paying attention to:
1. AI-Powered Personalisation at Scale
Generic donation asks are on the way out. With AI and machine learning becoming more accessible (and integrated into platforms like Salesforce’s Nonprofit Cloud), organisations can now craft hyper-personalised donor journeys at scale.
Imagine being able to automatically send a thank-you video from a program leader based on a donor’s past support or tailor a campaign message that reflects a supporter’s interests and giving history. AI can analyse donor preferences, engagement patterns, and even social media behaviour to ensure that each touchpoint feels thoughtful and relevant, not robotic.
What you can do now:
Start segmenting your database more deeply.
Experiment with AI tools that help generate content, like email copy or social posts (solutions such as Dataro can be great at this)
Ensure your data is clean and complete, AI is only as good as the information it learns from.
Bring in data from a range of sources either through Data Cloud to provide a more complete picture of your donors.
With the right information to hand, you can start to look at building up a picture of when is the right time to ask, and how. Maybe an appeal is the best way for Donor A, but Donor B is more likely to respond to an ask as the result of some recent news from your organisation. Make sure you’re fundraising approach is right for each donor.
2. The Rise of Micro-Donations
While major gifts will always matter, the volume and reliability of smaller, regular gifts has often played a major role in an organisation’s strategy (again, a recent Fundraising COP discussed the pros and cons of a regular giving program). But what if you went even smaller? Think $1 every time someone taps their phone. Or rounding up everyday purchases to the nearest dollar and donating the spare change.
We’re seeing micro-donations bundled into apps, subscription services, and even embedded in gaming platforms. It’s less about a one-time push and more about integrating giving into everyday life: frictionless, frequent and voluntary.
Think about removing the barrier of the expected donation amount. For some, especially younger donors, being able to contribute something quickly and easily as part of an already busy and tech-driven life, is much more appealing than being cultivated for a bigger ask.
What you can do now:
Look into partnerships with fintech apps or round-up donation platforms (like My Charity Change who are based in Australia, or Round Up App from the US)
Make sure your donation platform supports small, recurring payments.
Rethink your messaging: make it easy for people to see how “small” can be mighty.
3. Influencer Impact & Social Fundraising
Social media has always been a tool for storytelling. But it’s quickly becoming a fundraising platform in its own right. Influencers, whether they have 1,000 followers or 1 million, are increasingly driving real action for causes they care about. You only have to look at the success of Nedd Brockman for We Are Mobilise to see how one person can deliver millions of dollars worth of value (another Fundraising COP topic!). Do sign up to be part of Nedd’s Uncomfortable Challenge in October, you don’t have to run a marathon!
We’re also seeing a rise in peer-to-peer fundraising that’s native to platforms like Instagram and TikTok. It’s participatory, it’s authentic, and it reaches networks that your organisation might not otherwise access.
What you can do now:
Identify and nurture micro-influencers within your supporter base.
Make it easy for people to fundraise on your behalf with digital solutions.
Collaborate with creators who align with your values and can authentically share your impact.
4. Blockchain & Transparency in Giving
OK work with me here: this one may seem a bit fringe, but actually more and more organisations are starting to experiment with it, particularly in the UK and US. Check out this article from The Giving Block: 9 Nonprofits Harnessing Blockchain for Social Impact or this article from 2021 from Charity Digital: Blockchain for charity fundraising: behind the buzzword.
Trust remains a critical currency in philanthropy. Blockchain, best known as the tech behind cryptocurrencies, is emerging as a tool to increase transparency in how donations are tracked and used.
With blockchain-enabled giving, donors can trace how their funds are spent in real time, verify impact claims, and engage in decentralised giving platforms that offer greater control and immediacy.
It’s still early days in Australia, but some international nonprofits are already piloting blockchain for grants distribution, disaster relief, and donor tracking.
What you can do now:
Stay informed: follow how blockchain is being used in the sector globally.
Evaluate whether donor trust and reporting challenges in your organisation could be helped by tech-led transparency.
Start thinking about what future-ready donor accountability could look like
Looking Ahead
Technology will never replace the need for human connection, empathy and storytelling. But it will change the way those stories are told, the channels they travel through, and the tools supporters use to give.
Future fundraising isn’t about jumping on every trend. It’s about being open to new ideas, experimenting with the tools that align with your mission, and staying focused on what matters: building lasting relationships with people who care.
If you would like to have a chat with me about how to choose your technology based on your defined goals, feel free to reach out I am always happy to help: [email protected]
Until next time,
Nicole
Useful Resources
Join our Fundraising Community of Practice: meeting virtually once a month to discuss all things fundraising and tech. Email [email protected] to join.
Upcoming Events to Attend
Attend one of F&P’s fundraising events to keep up to date with trends.
Sign up to speak or buy a ticket for True Blue Blazing Melbourne. The first mass Salesforce in-person event in Melbourne since 2019 with a focus on learning and networking.
Australian Salesforce user groups
If you use Salesforce and you’re not part of a user group, you’re missing out! There’s over 30 groups in Australia and New Zealand alone, and many now meet online so there’s no excuse for not joining in and finding out more.