What Is Nonprofit Fundraising?

Nonprofit fundraising is the ongoing set of activities a nonprofit uses to raise money to support its mission — from one-time donations and recurring gifts to events, major gifts, and online campaigns. It combines relationship-building, clear asks, stewardship, and tracking to turn supporters into sustained funders.

Quick answer: Nonprofit fundraising is how an organization asks for, collects, and stewards financial support — using relationships, campaigns, and systems to turn donors into long-term partners.

What is nonprofit fundraising?

Nonprofit fundraising describes every intentional action your organization takes to secure financial support. That includes direct asks (mail, email, phone), online giving pages, peer-to-peer and event campaigns, major gift solicitation, planned giving conversations, and recurring gift programs. Fundraising also covers the behind-the-scenes work: donor research, segmentation, gift tracking, acknowledgement, and performance measurement.

Teams use the term when planning appeals, forecasting revenue, or evaluating program sustainability. Fundraising looks different by size and sector — a small arts group might rely on ticketed events and individual donors, while a human-services agency may combine grants, government contracts, and major gifts. Across all models, fundraising isn’t just transactions; it’s relationship work: identifying who cares about your mission, making a meaningful ask, and keeping supporters engaged so they give again.

Why nonprofit fundraising matters for nonprofits

Fundraising fuels your mission. Without steady, strategic fundraising you can’t plan programs, retain staff, or respond to opportunities and crises. Clear fundraising practices turn unpredictable, one-off gifts into reliable income so you can invest in long-term impact.

Not having a coordinated approach costs time and donor goodwill: missed stewardship, duplicate asks, or slow acknowledgements lower donor retention and reduce lifetime value. When you measure fundraising — who gives, why, and how often — you get the data you need to grow revenue and deepen support. That shift makes your fundraising less about short-term fixes and more about building a community that sustains your mission over years.

How nonprofit fundraising works in practice

Scenario: Riverbend Food Bank, a mid-sized pantry serving a city region, has 3,200 donors and relies on a mix of small monthly gifts, annual appeals, an autumn fundraising drive, and a handful of major donors.

1. Plan: The development director maps an annual calendar — recurring donor asks in January, a spring digital campaign for emergency food needs, an autumn direct-mail appeal, and a year-end major-donor push.
2. Segment: Using recent giving and engagement, Riverbend segments donors into monthly givers, mid-level supporters, event participants, and prospects for major gifts.
3. Ask: They run an online campaign with peer-to-peer pages for a community food challenge and send tailored emails to monthly donors asking them to increase their gift by one tier.
4. Steward: After gifts arrive, automated acknowledgements go out within 48 hours. Major donors receive personalized notes and impact reports from the executive director.
5. Review: Each month they review giving trends and adjust messaging. They use the autumn campaign results to refine the next year’s forecast and to identify prospects for one-on-one cultivation.

For deeper major-gift strategy and sample cultivation steps, see our blog category on major gifts: /blog/category/major-gifts/.

What Is Nonprofit Fundraising?: Key metrics and benchmarks

• Donor retention rate — Historical industry averages often fall in the low-to-mid 40% range. Use your own year-over-year retention as the primary baseline.

• Average gift size — Varies widely by organization; small nonprofits may see $25–$200 as common online gifts, while mid-sized orgs rely more on mid-level and major gifts. Use your average gift over time to set realistic targets (directional).

• Recurring giving percentage — Track the share of revenue or donors who give monthly; growing this share improves predictability (no universal standard — “good” is increasing year over year).

• Revenue concentration — A small percentage of donors often provides a large share of revenue; monitor concentration to assess risk (directional insight).

Related nonprofit terms

peer-to-peer-fundraising Campaigns where supporters raise money on your behalf by soliciting donations from their networks.

major-gifts Large, often transformational donations from individual donors, typically above an organization-defined threshold.

fundraising-appeal A specific request for support — an email, letter, event ask, or online campaign designed to motivate giving.

donor-retention The percentage of donors who give in consecutive periods; a key indicator of long-term fundraising health.

How Bloomerang helps you fundraise

Bloomerang CRM centralizes donor records and gift histories so your team sees one complete view of one-time, recurring, and major gifts. Built-in segmentation and automated acknowledgement workflows make stewardship faster and more consistent, which protects retention and improves forecasting.

Bloomerang Fundraising also gives you online giving pages plus event and peer-to-peer campaign tools to collect donations and manage drives. Use Bloomerang’s segmentation, engagement tracking, and reporting to identify major-gift prospects, automate thank-you steps, and measure the impact of each campaign. For major-gift cultivation resources, pair Bloomerang reporting with our major-gifts blog guidance: /blog/category/major-gifts/.

Frequently Asked Questions

What’s the difference between fundraising and development?

Fundraising is the practical work of asking for and securing financial support (campaigns, events, gifts). Development is broader: it includes fundraising plus donor relations, strategic planning, major-gift cultivation, and activities that grow long-term support and organizational capacity.

How does a nonprofit decide what counts as a “major gift”?

Define major gifts based on your donor base and revenue: a major gift for a small nonprofit may be $1,000, while for a large university it’s much higher. Set thresholds that help you prioritize stewardship and identify prospects.

When should I invest in recurring giving versus one-time campaigns?

Start recurring options early — they build predictability. If you’re launching a big project or have an urgent need, combine one-time campaigns with a recurring ask (e.g., “Give once, or make it monthly”). Track retention and lifetime value to see which approach yields better sustained support for your mission.

How do I measure whether my fundraising is working?

Track donor retention, average gift size, percentage of revenue from recurring gifts, and the success rate of targeted asks (e.g., upgrade requests). Compare year-over-year trends and the return on investment for events and campaigns. Your own longitudinal data is the most reliable benchmark.

How should a development director prioritize limited staff time for fundraising?

Prioritize activities that build relationships and predictable income: recurring gifts, stewarding mid-level and major donors, and segmentation-based appeals. Automate acknowledgements and routine touchpoints so staff can focus on cultivation conversations that need a human touch.

The Bottom Line

What is nonprofit fundraising? It’s the set of activities your nonprofit uses to ask for, collect, and steward financial support. It matters because steady, strategic fundraising sustains programs and deepens donor relationships. One thing to do now: map your donors, segment by behavior, and create a repeatable stewardship plan to improve retention and predictability.