Last year seemed primed to be a tough one for civil society due to government funding cuts and policy shifts, but a recent CCS Fundraising report found that the nonprofit world is nevertheless resilient and nimble.

“I’m really excited and pleasantly surprised about, first and foremost, the fact that 62% of organizations responded to say they increased their revenue in the prior fiscal year,” Lindsay Marciniak, managing partner at CCS Fundraising, told eJewishPhilanthropy.

The 2026 Philanthropy Pulse Report, released yesterday, surveyed 618 nonprofits across 47 U.S. states and 18 countries, and found that the organizations that were the most durable were those that cultivated relationships with funders and stressed their strengths, including AI and offering alternative benefits to combat burnout. “This report reveals that while the nonprofit sector is in the midst of an ever-changing and dynamic environment, philanthropy remains resilient,” Marciniak said.

In the fifth edition of the annual study, 47% of respondents cited changes in government policy as affecting their organizations negatively, with 61% of respondents receiving less funding. These policy changes included cuts to federal grants, as well as pressure to use or avoid certain language and modify how programs are implemented, particularly those related to diversity, equity and inclusion. Still, many nonprofit sectors thrived, especially public?society benefit organizations, which reported a 78% growth, and organizations within the education sector, which grew between 60% and 75% across the board, the survey found.

While donor acquisition was cited as a top challenge organizations face, the report showed that organizations have had a 60% increase in new donors, up from 53% in 2024, and modest improvement in donor retention, with nearly half of organizations reporting a retention rate between 30% and 60%. 

Increasingly, organizations are also going digital, through targeted communication and social media campaigns, to engage the next generation of philanthropists and retain donors.

“Donor acquisition alone cannot create fully sustainable operations,” Marciniak said. “Organizations that prioritize donor acquisition alongside retention will build and grow the most sustainable fundraising programs… Your best potential donors are always your current donors. In order to grow sustainable fundraising programs, organizations that retain their loyal donors are best positioned to then acquire new donors and steward donors for long-term relationships.”

Organizations anticipate government funding will only decrease in the coming year, with 45% expecting a drop in government grants. Yet 57% of organizations expect growth in major gifts — which yield the strongest return on investment — and 52% expect growth in mid?level gifts, with relatively few anticipating declines. Nonprofits report receiving 42% of gifts through annual giving, followed by 40% through one-time giving and only 11% through monthly giving. 

Much of this was likely related to changes to the tax code that went into effect this year, which encouraged potential donors to make tax-deductible charitable gifts in 2025.

This new landscape, where organizations depend less on the government, provides an opportunity for organizations to emphasize personal relationships and focus on alignment with their missions, Marciniak said.

“Mid-level donors are so crucial to build donor engagement generally and build a pipeline of philanthropy specifically,” Marciniak said. “We know emerging generations of donors are interested in being engaged beyond just giving, and so mid-level giving and major giving both provide an opportunity to take a more personal approach and really understand donor needs.”

A recent Slingshot study, “Portrait of Next-Gen Jewish Giving Today,” which Marciniak referenced in her interview with eJP, shows that the next generation of Jewish donors is passionate and sees philanthropy as integral to their identity, but wants a more hands-on approach to philanthropy than past generations, one that includes shared decision-making with the community.

Faith-based and Jewish philanthropy have a significant opportunity to cultivate multigenerational philanthropy, Marciniak said, adding that “it’s really continuously important to continue emphasizing values-driven messaging, community-centered storytelling and impact.”

The study showed that while organizations are interested in AI, few are using it. Twenty percent of staff at the organizations surveyed were trained in AI, a figure that doubled since last year, but 65% of organizations report no AI training. Of those organizations that classified their stance on AI as “very positive,” 70% reported an increase in revenue.

Another trend cited in the survey is that boards with strong engagement and consistent fundraising expectations fared better financially. “It’s incredibly important to ensure that board members have a spectrum of ways they can engage in philanthropy,” Marciniak said. “Yes, making their own personal gift is so important [but so is] having [the] opportunity to lean in and build relationships through identifying connections, making introductions, sharing their own story, providing background insight, and importantly, saying thank-you to donors.”

Burnout and limited career growth were cited as bigger obstacles to staff retention than low pay, yet organizations report coming up with innovative workarounds. “Organizations that can lean into flexible and creative working opportunities for their team members have the ability to best respond to their employees’ needs,” Marciniak said.

These opportunities include allowing remote or hybrid work, investing in professional development and offering opportunities for cross-disciplinary learning, with the Jewish Federation of Greater Cleveland singled out as an example of an organization that is doing so. The federation allows team members to learn and grow beyond their role at the agency, giving them a way to expand skills and feel closer to the organization’s mission.  

“Stability in philanthropy doesn’t mean complacency,” Marciniak said. “It’s really important for nonprofit leaders to really understand their existing revenue sources and plan for different scenarios in order to ensure continued stability and sustainability.”