There’s a new currency in fundraising: Trust

Trust is trending in the wrong direction. The 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer has watched trust erode between employees and employers, voters and elected officials, and viewers (and those few remaining readers) from sources of media.

And one of the most unfortunate recipients of this distrust: nonprofits and NGOs. In 2025, the Edelman report found businesses were more trusted than nonprofits. That’s not a good look!

What does this mean for fundraising in a world that’s growing more and more skeptical? And how do nonprofits respond to younger generations that tend to be leaders when it comes to that skepticism?

What you may have already noticed yourself: donors are giving once and then disappearing. Or younger generations simply aren’t showing up. 

The world is a crowded place for fundraisers. From content creators to century-old corporations, everyone is looking for another dollar. And that competition for attention makes it harder and harder to get in front of the right people, especially when that group feels like it’s thinning.

What a donor wants (what a donor needs)

To move the needle in the right direction on that trust barometer, nonprofits need to prioritize a few things:

1. Transparency: Where do donations go? Is any of it going to overhead costs (sometimes this is absolutely necessary)? But if it is, precisely how much? And what are the annual expenses? It’s easy to hide behind the word salary, but donors aren’t going to give until they know who’s leading the team and what they’re being paid — especially if their donation is going toward covering that salary.
   
   
2. Reporting: Please tell emotional impact stories, but also include the facts. Stories play really well with statistics. And let your reporting show off your transparency. Hiding or obscuring the numbers will create more questions from potential donors and is ultimately going to get in the way of your fundraising efforts.
   
   
3. Authenticity: T.S. Eliot said “humility is endless.” And I know I could be a little more “endless” myself. But your nonprofit probably needs to be too. It isn’t going to work to make your donors out to be the problem. If you accept that our problem is a shared one, and that part of the path forward includes all of us working on ourselves, donors are going to feel invited to live up to their side of the bargain. What they’re not going to get on board with is an ask that makes it seem like they’re the ones holding the whole thing up.

The subheading here may have been a nod to a Christina Aguilera song, but these things truly aren’t wants, they’re needs. No matter how smart your donor engagement strategies are, they aren’t going to build donor trust without including the above ingredients. 

And really, we want to be clear, these aren’t really things that you can mix in overnight. You’re going to have to live out these virtues (sure, reporting is a virtue too!). And donors may not believe that they’re truly virtues until they’ve watched you do them over the long haul.

Trust is in the details

Because those 3 virtues aren’t going to happen overnight, we want to include a few actions that you can accomplish over the next weeks that are going to go a long way in building donor trust and retention.

Show, don’t tell: When we were kids, we were supposed to show and tell, and that was because we were learning how to use words. But now that we’re older, most of us use too many words. Now it should be all about showing, not telling. Also, as kids, did any of us care what Billy was saying about his pet tarantula? No, we just wanted to touch it!

Let your potential donors see, feel, and hear about your mission and the work you’re doing. Before and after photos or an infographic can put on full display the impact you’re making — or even better, a quick video. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video must be worth millions.

Pull back the curtain: This is a great way to show transparency. Tell the stories of the people that make your organization tick. And start from the ground up. With distrust in business leaders growing, it’s going to be better to start with a staff member or a volunteer.

Let them tell you about the impact they’ve been able to make by partnering with your organization. And let them tell the facts and numbers. This is going to be far more compelling than another helping of standard-issue executive speak!

Who’s the star of your story?: Hint: it’s not you. It’s the donor. If your organization needs donors to continue the incredible work you’re doing, then they shouldn’t be treated as if they’re a necessary evil. Instead, they should be put on a pedestal.

And that means that your messaging and your stories need to put them front and center. Yes, you’re doing the work every day. But if you need donors to do that work every day, then you likely won’t convince many people to give by telling them how important your organization is. You’ll catch a lot more donors by showing them how important they are.

Let’s do it live!: People don’t care about ten minutes ago. We all want it to be current. So make sure that you build time into the week to let your supporters in on the action. Maybe a live event on Facebook every week or so could be a way to let supporters in on what’s up!

Charity: Water always comes to mind when it’s time for a good example. They tell emotional stories about the people they impact through their work. But they don’t shy away from the numbers. And they have a tab on their homepage with full access to their financials. That’s a prime example of nonprofit transparency!

Who knew the internet could build trust?

The internet and new technologies may be a large part of the reason for growing distrust. But it doesn’t have to be this way!

Donor engagement strategies should focus on connecting people to each other and to the work that lifts all of us up. What if you thanked donors by showing them before and after pictures in a retargeting ad?

And does your organization send out automated emails to every donor (with their name!), thanking them for their partnership? 

Yes, new technologies may make your life easier too, but they’re really about building donor trust — when they’re built in the right way.

If you’re looking for new ways of building donor trust and retention, we’d love to see if Feathr is the right all-in-one marketing platform for your organization. Reach out and schedule a demo today!