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Most nonprofits treat their donation form as a final step in the donor journey. The data suggests it’s become a bottleneck.
After analyzing 33,000+ fundraising campaigns across 4,400+ nonprofits, one finding stands out: donation form volume declined -14.3% year-over-year in 2025, the steepest drop of any campaign type tracked. Net new donor acquisition on forms fell -18.8%.
And yet, median gift size on donation forms grew +1.3%, making it the only campaign type to improve in that category.
Forms are successfully capturing value from donors who are already committed. They are not reaching new audiences, not building recurring relationships at scale, and not converting passive traffic into long-term supporters. The good news: that gap is addressable.
The strategic problem with most donation forms
Before getting into tactics, it’s worth naming the structural issue.
Ticketed Events grew fundraising volume +9.1% YoY in 2025. Appeals held steady. Donation forms saw the steepest decline of any format. The difference is not design or copy alone. It’s intent architecture. Events have a date. Appeals have a deadline. Donation forms, by default, have neither, which signals to a prospective donor that giving can wait.
The most effective donation forms in 2025 solved this by engineering intent into the experience itself: urgency, recurring giving as the default, and a post-donation journey built to retain. The practices below reflect that approach.
1. Default to recurring giving
Recurring donors grew +10.45% year-over-year in 2025. The median recurring gift was $24.34. Across every donor segment tracked, recurring supporters show the highest lifetime value, including over one-time donors who give larger lump sums.
Most forms bury the recurring option near the submit button as an opt-in checkbox. Flip that architecture: make monthly giving the pre-selected default, with a clear note that one-time giving is available. Reinforce the choice with a time-based impact statement tied to the selected amount.
“The growth in recurring giving reflected in this report mirrors what many of us are experiencing in the fundraising industry. Donors are being more intentional. They want clarity, consistency, and trust. Relationship-based fundraising isn’t a nice-to-have, it’s essential as we plan for 2026.”
Stephanie Willis, Data and Research Consultant, Author of The Art and Science Approach to Fundraising Data and Research
Given that donation forms had the lowest new donor acquisition of any format in 2025, converting first-time visitors into recurring supporters is the highest-leverage outcome your form can produce.
On Raisely: Set your default donation type to “Monthly” in the campaign builder. Customize the pre-selected amount and add a dynamic impact statement that updates based on the gift tier.
2. Engineer urgency into the form
Always-on forms signal that giving can happen later. Later rarely comes.
Urgency does not require manufactured pressure. It requires a real reason to act now:
- A matched giving window (“Gifts matched 2:1 until March 31”)
- A campaign goal with a visible progress bar
- A program-specific need with a funding deadline
- A countdown tied to a seasonal giving moment like Giving Tuesday
Organizations that built urgency into their 2025 campaigns saw it work directly:
“Setting a deadline for when we needed the money by, and that urgency actually created the donations we needed.”
Debbie H., Save the Kiwi
“Creating a countdown timer on the page for an urgent, specific need was one of the most effective unconventional tactics we’ve used.”
Vicki R., Charlies Foundation for Research
Matched giving, in particular, has shifted from a differentiator to a baseline expectation:
“We’re seeing an increase in donations when matched giving is offered, but this is now anecdotally more expected, and we see a drop when matched giving isn’t offered.”
Balanced Effect, Raisely Partner
If a match exists, from a board member, corporate sponsor, or major funder, lead with it above the form. Do not save it for the fine print.
3. Translate dollars into impact
“Your donation supports our mission” is not an impact statement. It’s a placeholder.
Forms that convert at higher rates give donors a precise, human picture of what their gift does:
- “$35 covers a week of after-school meals for one child.”
- “$50 funds one hour of legal support for a refugee family.”
- “$100 provides emergency supplies for a displaced family for three days.”
When donors understand they are doing something specific, rather than giving to an organization, both conversion rate and average gift size respond. Combine a concrete impact statement with a recurring giving default and you get the most effective combination available on a donation form: “Your $25/month feeds one child every week, all year.”
4. Widen accessibility at the lower end of the giving ladder
Gift size grew while donation volume fell sharply in 2025. One likely contributor: suggested amounts that price out new donors or those giving under economic pressure.
“As the economy continues to shift, we are seeing a smaller number of donors who are giving more, and many of our lower-dollar donors are pausing their giving or giving a reduced amount. I would suggest offering a lower donation amount as a starting point to be inclusive of your donors who may not be able to give as much, so that they still feel included and know that their gift matters.”
Sara Hoshooley, Fundraising Consultant and Strategist, Founder of Charity Shift
The benchmark data reinforces this point structurally. Small nonprofits under $100K/year in revenue grew fundraising volume +7.4% in 2025, while larger organizations declined -5.7%. Smaller orgs tend to communicate more personally and set more accessible entry points. That’s a form design lesson at any scale.
Build a genuine first rung into your giving ladder ($5, $10, or $15/month) alongside higher-impact tiers. Every donor who wants to give should be able to find a place to start.
5. Optimize for mobile without compromise
The majority of donation traffic arrives on mobile. Forms designed for desktop and adapted down introduce friction precisely at the point of conversion.
A mobile-first form means:
- Large, tappable inputs
- Minimal required fields (name, email, and amount are sufficient for a first-time donor)
- Payment methods that eliminate card entry (Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal)
- A donate button visible without scrolling on any screen size
This principle extends to copy. Short sentences. One clear ask. One decision at a time.
Ready to build a donation form that converts?
The data from 33,000+ campaigns shows what’s possible when forms are built with intention: clear impact messaging, recurring giving by default, and a post-donation journey that keeps donors engaged.
Download the full 2026 Fundraising Benchmarks Report →
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Alex Arrington, Director of Marketing, Raisely
Alex Arrington leads marketing at Raisely, the fundraising platform built for nonprofits that want to raise more and retain donors long-term. With two years at Raisely and a focus on data-driven growth, Alex helps translate fundraising trends into actionable strategy for nonprofit teams worldwide.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s alone and do not necessarily represent those of CharityVillage.com or any other individual or entity with whom the authors or website may be affiliated. CharityVillage.com is not liable for any content that may be considered offensive, inappropriate, defamatory, or inaccurate or in breach of third-party rights of privacy, copyright, or trademark.
