For years, nonprofit fundraising strategy revolved around the question of finding more donors. However, data compiled by Virtuous from 771 mid-sized and large US nonprofits suggests the sector has quietly shifted in its fundraising approach.
The numbers behind the Virtuous report
Virtuous, a fundraising platform for nonprofits, released its 2025 Nonprofit Fundraising Benchmark Report, drawing on giving data from 771 organizations. The headline finding is a nearly 18% increase in donor lifetime value, the strongest signal in the report.
Meanwhile, median gift size climbed approximately 20% and recurring giving now accounts for nearly 21% of total revenue across the sector. Gift frequency, introduced as a new metric this year, averaged 4.15 gifts per donor annually, with top-quartile organizations averaging 5.62.
A look at the Virtuous report indicates that retention held steady at 44.73%. Among top performers, nearly seven out of ten donors gave again.
The outlier in the data is first-time donors. Three out of four never make a second gift, with conversion sitting at 25.84%.
Despite the numbers around first-time donors, a bird’s-eye view of the report paints an optimistic picture. Pundits aver that the sector is deepening its relationship with committed donors while struggling to pull new ones past the first transaction.
“Fewer new donors are making it past that first gift,” said Gabe Cooper, CEO of Virtuous. “But the donors who do stick around are giving more, giving more consistently, and are more engaged than we’ve seen in years.”
What top nonprofits do differently
The gap between average and top-quartile organizations is not random. In an interview with Charity Journal, Virtuous disclosed that high-performing nonprofits have restructured how they treat first-time donors from the moment a gift arrives.
The old standard was a 48-hour follow-up. Virtuous pointed out that top organizations have abandoned it for a more nimble approach.
Gift officers receive an alert the moment a donation lands, and a personalized thank-you goes out the same day, while the donor still remembers giving.
Beyond the initial response, the fundraising platform disclosed that leading organizations run structured welcome journeys rather than one-off messages. A 30 to 60 day sequence typically includes an impact story in the first week and a soft second ask tied to a specific outcome, designed to build trust before the next solicitation.
The third shift among top-performing nonprofits is segmentation. Rather than routing all first-time donors through the same automated track, top organizations score new donors on wealth, capacity, and connection, then move the highest-potential name into a fifth officer’s daily workflow.
“That’s how teams are doubling first-to-second-gift retention and doubling personal outreach without adding staff,” said a Virtuous spokesperson.
The upgrade hiding in the middle
The 20% increase in median gift size is not coming from major donors. Per the report, it is coming from the middle of the donor base, everyday givers moving incrementally up the ladder.
Virtuous uses predictive scoring to identify which donors look ready to upgrade before anyone asks. A donor giving $50 might score as a strong candidate for $75 or $100 based on their giving history and engagement signals.
The fundraising platform noted that those scores feed directly into suggested ask amounts on donation forms and into gift officer workflows, so the ask reflects each donor’s actual capacity.
“The benchmarks show everyday donors moving up the ladder in a way that’s repeatable instead of lucky,” added the spokesperson.