A lack of passion isn’t what holds most nonprofits back. Nonprofits are working harder than ever—yet revenue growth remains inconsistent.
The issue isn’t effort. It’s hidden friction inside fundraising systems that quietly limit growth.
Many nonprofits face the same patterns: low first-time donor retention, stagnant gift sizes, underperforming recurring programs, and technology that slows teams down instead of accelerating results.
These aren’t isolated issues—they’re signals your fundraising system isn’t working as one.
The good news? These stalls are identifiable and fixable. In this guide, we’ll explore five common fundraising growth barriers, how to recognize them, and what steps can help your organization move forward.
According to the Fundraising Effectiveness Project, first-time donor retention averages at just 14%.
This means that for every ten new donors your organization acquires, nearly nine of them will never give again. Without strong follow-up engagement, donor acquisition becomes a cycle that consumes time and resources without creating long-term growth. This doesn’t just impact retention—it also limits gift growth and recurring conversion. This not only harms donor retention but also restricts gift growth and the conversion of one-time gifts into recurring donations.
Ultimately, you’re missing out on a lot of money, and long term, those losses compound into a greater financial loss. For example, organizations using Bloomerang have reported first-time donor retention rates as high as 52%,1 meaning you’re missing out on hundreds or even thousands of donors and potentially tens of thousands of dollars over 5 years.
Want to see how much you’re losing out on? Plug in your numbers with our ROI calculator!
The 2025 M+R Benchmarks report found the average one-time gift to be $126.
If your median gift size isn’t growing, your donation experience could be limiting generosity. Unoptimized donation forms, lengthy checkout flows, or static ask amounts can unintentionally cap giving potential.
If your standard gift size is plateauing, you’re losing out on potential income. Bloomerang customers see an average one-time gift of $166—and up to $191 for larger organizations,2 and those dollars you’re missing add up to some major revenue loss for your mission.
According to the 2025 M+R Benchmarks report, the average monthly donation is $24.
Recurring donors are a source of sustainable support you can cultivate. However, many platforms unintentionally limit monthly gift size through default donation levels or unclear giving options.
Having recurring donors is great—but missing out on revenue can prevent your nonprofit from growing. For instance, Bloomerang customers report an average of $38 per monthly gift.3 What could you do with 58% more each month from your recurring donors?
The Fundraising Effectiveness Project report found that mid-sized nonprofits ($250K–$1M revenue) experienced −0.5% median revenue growth.
Your software can be a big contributor to stunting your growth. Outdated fundraising systems often create hidden costs—requiring your staff to spend more time managing data, exporting reports, and fixing workflow issues instead of building donor relationships.
Spending more on software can cost your mission hundreds and thousands of funds every year. Similar nonprofits using the Bloomerang Giving Platform 9.5% annual growth4—leaving a lot of revenue on the table for organizations.
Many nonprofits rely on a patchwork of tools: one system for CRM, another for donations, another for volunteer management. These disconnected systems prevent organizations from seeing the full donor journey—from volunteer activity to event participation to giving history.
Without that context, engagement strategies become fragmented and less effective as opportunities get lost between systems and data silos, resulting in a measurable decline in year-over-year revenue.
How much are data silos and unconnected tools costing your nonprofit? The answer may surprise you. For example, organizations leveraging the full Bloomerang platform see an 11.14% increase of average yearly revenue5 compared to partial users. That’s thousands of dollars in potential income loss.
Each of these “revenue killers” may look like separate problems—but they all stem from the same root issue: disconnected systems and manual processes.
When donor data, giving experiences, and engagement workflows operate in silos:
Fixing each issue individually can create incremental improvements—but it doesn’t eliminate the underlying friction. Sustainable growth requires a system that works as one.
A unified system doesn’t just fix individual problems—it systematically removes the friction causing them. The result: every part of the fundraising system reinforces the others—turning isolated improvements into compounding growth.
Over five years, this difference compounds significantly. Nonprofits using the full Bloomerang platform experience roughly 70% cumulative revenue growth, demonstrating how unified systems can accelerate fundraising momentum.
With a unified platform like Bloomerang, every new donor triggers an automated journey:
This ensures consistent stewardship without relying on manual intervention—directly improving retention rates.
Giving experiences adapt in real time when you use a unified giving platform:
This removes barriers to generosity and increases average gift size.
Recurring giving is built into the system—not treated as an afterthought:
This increases both participation and long-term donor value.
With a unified system, manual processes are replaced with automation:
This reduces operational drag and improves team efficiency.
One unified giving platform means all your engagement data lives in one place, including:
This creates a complete picture of each donor, enabling more relevant and effective outreach.
Fundraising growth rarely stalls for a single reason. It’s often the result of multiple small inefficiencies: low retention, flat gift sizes, underperforming recurring programs, and disconnected systems.
Fortunately, these obstacles can be overcome through a combination of effective strategy, strong stewardship, and appropriate technology. Genuine, sustainable growth isn’t about fixing individual issues in isolation—it comes from eliminating the disconnects and friction points between your fundraising efforts. When your fundraising functions as a unified system, every positive change amplifies the others, transforming modest improvements into sustained, long-term revenue momentum.
1 Organizations using Bloomerang have reported first-time donor retention rates as high as 52% for nonprofits under $100K in revenue, and around 45% for organizations in the $1M–$10M range, demonstrating the impact of strong donor relationship management.
2 Bloomerang customers report an average one-time gift of $166. For larger organizations ($1M–$10M in revenue), average gifts rise to $191, significantly exceeding industry averages.
3 Bloomerang data shows nonprofit customers between $100K and $10M in revenue averaging $38 per monthly gift, approximately 58% higher than the industry average.
4 Organizations in the same mid-sized revenue segment using the Bloomerang Giving Platform report 9.5% annual growth, outperforming the industry. Nonprofits switching from other platforms see even greater growth with Blackbaud eTapestry users switching to Bloomerang have reported average revenue growth of 98% in their first year.
5 Nonprofits using the full Bloomerang Giving Platform experience an average yearly revenue increase of 11.14% compared to those using only a single product. This means organizations using the complete platform grow 1.5× faster than those using only two products.
