Relevance is the New ROI: Aligning Fundraising with What Donors Care About 

The Giving USA 2025 report confirmed what many fundraisers already feel: philanthropy is evolving, and the traditional playbook isn’t keeping pace. In our recent webinar, Future-Proofing Fundraising: 5 Strategic Moves from the Giving USA 2025 Report, we explored how organizations can translate these latest findings into actionable strategy. 

This article builds on that conversation, offering practical guidance for implementing the second strategic recommendation.  

Strategic Move #2: Align Fundraising with Market-Driven Opportunity Areas 

A fundamental shift is reshaping donor behavior: today’s most engaged supporters aren’t just writing checks; they are seeking authentic alignment between their values and their giving. The Giving USA 2025 report confirms this, with sectors like public society benefit (+19.5%), international affairs (+17.7%), and education (+13.2%) significantly outpacing overall giving growth. 

These aren’t random fluctuations. They reflect donors increasingly directing their philanthropy toward causes that address urgent societal challenges: equity, democracy, climate resilience, global health, and educational access. Organizations that understand this shift and adapt their fundraising approach accordingly aren’t just raising more money; they’re building more sustainable, engaged donor relationships. 

If your fundraising strategy still focuses primarily on institutional needs rather than donor values and societal impact, you may be missing opportunities—and falling behind organizations that have made this transition successfully. 

From Institutional Need to Shared Impact 

Traditional fundraising often centered on making the case for the organization—budget gaps, staffing needs, facility improvements, or growth plans. While these needs are real, they’re not what motivates today’s most committed donors. 

Modern donors approach their giving with different questions: 

• What pressing problem does this solve? 
• How does my support advance causes I care about? 
• Where’s the broader societal impact (beyond this institution)? 
• How does this align with my values and vision for change? 
• How will I know my giving is really making an impact?  

The most successful organizations are learning to translate their work into language and frameworks that answer these questions without compromising their mission integrity. 

Strategic Reframing in Practice 

Market-driven fundraising isn’t about chasing trends or abandoning your core mission. It’s about expressing your organization’s impact in ways that resonate with individual donor motivations and societal concerns. 

Consider these reframing examples: 

• Student financial aid becomes economic mobility and civic infrastructure development  
• Diversity and inclusion programs are positioned as democracy-building and community resilience initiatives 
• Maternal healthcare services are elevated as global health equity and social justice work  
• Campus mental health aligns with public health and trauma-informed community care 

The programs haven’t changed, but the way you communicate their significance and impact has evolved to meet donors where they are intellectually and emotionally. 

Four Strategies for Market-Driven, Values-Aligned Fundraising 

1. Audit Your Messaging for Donor Relevance 

Examine your current communications through your supporters’ eyes rather than your organization’s internal perspective: 

Message Analysis: Review recent appeals, proposals, and campaign materials. Are they written from the institution’s viewpoint or the donor’s? Do they lead with your needs or with compelling problems you’re solving? 

Language Evolution: Identify programs or initiatives that are still described in internally focused terms. How might these be reframed to emphasize broader impact and contemporary relevance? 

Donor Voice Integration: Conduct brief interviews with committed supporters to understand what motivates their giving and how they describe your impact to others. Their language often reveals compelling narratives. 

2. Develop Values-Forward Program Narratives 

Create thematic frameworks that help donors understand how individual programs contribute to larger societal goals: 

Cross-Program Themes: Develop impact categories that span different organizational activities: “Building Democratic Participation,” “Advancing Health Equity,” and “Creating Economic Opportunity.” These help donors see connections between various initiatives. 

Problem-Centered Positioning: Lead with compelling challenges rather than organizational capabilities. Your case for support should start with why change is urgently needed. 

Contemporary Context: Connect your work to current social, economic, or political realities that donors are already thinking about and concerned with. 

3. Equip Your Team for Values-Based Conversations 

Fundraising staff need both frameworks and fluency to connect institutional work with donor motivations: 

Narrative Training: Develop messaging guides that help staff translate program descriptions into donor-relevant language. Focus on frameworks that provide staff with the adaptability needed for real-time conversations. 

Scenario Practice: Role-play situations where reframing is necessary. How do you pivot from a programmatic description to a values-based conversation? How do you connect specific gifts to broader impact? 

Story Banking: Collect and organize impact stories that illustrate how your work addresses the issues donors care most about. Make these easily accessible for staff use in proposals, presentations, and conversations. 

4. Create Partnership Opportunities 

Today’s donors increasingly want to feel like collaborators in solving problems, not just funders of institutional activities: 

Strategic Input: Invite committed donors into early-stage planning for new initiatives, especially those addressing emerging challenges. Their perspectives can strengthen both program design and donor engagement. 

Meaningful Recognition: Use naming opportunities and recognition programs to reflect shared values rather than just donor appreciation. How can these moments reinforce the impact donors are helping create? 

Peer Influence: Highlight stories of donors whose giving exemplifies the values-driven approach you’re encouraging. These narratives can model the type of engagement you’re seeking from others. 

Sector-Specific Applications 

Independent Schools: Reframe financial aid as civic infrastructure development and community equity building. Position diversity initiatives as preparing students for democratic participation and global citizenship. 

Higher Education: Connect global learning programs to international understanding and peace building. Frame first-generation student support as economic mobility and social equity advancement. 

Healthcare Organizations: Position maternal health programs within global health equity frameworks. Connect community health initiatives to social justice and systemic change narratives. 

Measuring Strategic Alignment 

Success in values-aligned fundraising extends beyond revenue metrics: 

• Engagement Quality: Are donors participating more actively in programs and events? Are they bringing others into your community? 
• Giving Evolution: Are supporters making unrestricted gifts or contributing to thematic funds rather than just designated programs? 
• Proposal Success: Are grant applications and major gift conversations more successful when using values-forward language? 
• Staff Confidence: Do fundraising team members feel equipped to discuss your impact in contemporary, relevant terms? 

Building Authentic Relevance 

Sustainable alignment between your mission and donor values must be authentic. This requires deep understanding of both your community’s concerns and your organization’s genuine impact on issues they care about. 

The organizations that will thrive in the coming years are those that can articulate clearly and compellingly why their mission matters now, in this moment, to people who want to make a difference in the world. 

Questions for reflection: 

• Which of your programs could be reframed to emphasize their connection to broader societal challenges? 
• How well do your fundraising team members understand and communicate the contemporary relevance of your work? 
• What values are your most committed donors expressing that aren’t reflected in your current messaging? 

In a philanthropic environment filled with worthy causes, the organizations that rise above the noise will be those that can answer with clarity and conviction: “Why now? And why us?” The answer lies not in what you need, but in what the world needs—and how your mission helps provide it. 

This analysis is based on insights from the latest Giving USA report and strategic recommendations shared by Marts&Lundy experts in our recent webinar – Sarah Clough, Chief Strategy Officer and Vice President, Insights & Analytics; Don Fellows, Senior Consultant & Principal and Practice Leader, Higher Education; Mark Kimbell, Senior Consultant & Principal and Practice Leader, Healthcare; and Jim Zimmerman, Senior Consultant & Principal and Schools Practice Leader.  

What’s next? Read the next blog in our series, where we’ll dive deeper into the third strategic move: Activate Adaptive Campaign Strategies