The Difference: Nonprofit Fundraising in a For-Profit World
Jul 6, 2026 · 24 min · 9 segments
Send us Fan Mail Giving reached a record **$617 billion** in 2025. So why does fundraising feel harder than ever? In this episode of *The…
Tom RalserGuest
Jay WerthHost
The report is researched and written by the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at IU Indianapolis, well-renowned for their work.
Behind that headline is why we've invited my Convergent colleagues, General Manager Brian Abernathy, and Convergent Principal Tom Ralser, who directs Convergence Outcomes Lab.
Are you anxious about that at all, or should development directors be anxious? Ab- what's the gap between the headline and the reality?
I will tell you that, uh, as this report came out, I was on the stretch of several weeks of, uh, of travel and on-site work with clients and, uh, most nonprofits around the country are not feeling the impact of what is a record year of giving.
And so that's, um, maybe a broad, high-level statement, but I will talk about some of the details behind the numbers, but the number's bigger in mass, but is that hitting the nonprofits that are delivering critical value in their communities? I would say, based on our clients, no, they're not feeling that increase.
They're finding it harder and more complicated, en masse, to tap into funding in order to continue to deliver avenues of work.
Most of who we're talking to in the nonprofit space are not seeing it as easy to tap into funding.
It's more and more challenging to unlock this record amount of capital that is, uh, apparently flowing out to the nonprofit space.
It's, um, and we're gonna get into the details, as you said, but they're not feeling it, and I think that's exacerbated by the uncertainty that we've had for the last couple years in their funding, a lot of them that get public sector funding.
That certainly adds to that too, not just the, the banner top-line number of it increased.
The report is researched and written by the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at IU Indianapolis, well-renowned for their work.
Behind that headline is why we've invited my Convergent colleagues, General Manager Brian Abernathy, and Convergent Principal Tom Ralser, who directs Convergence Outcomes Lab.
Are you anxious about that at all, or should development directors be anxious? Ab- what's the gap between the headline and the reality?
I will tell you that, uh, as this report came out, I was on the stretch of several weeks of, uh, of travel and on-site work with clients and, uh, most nonprofits around the country are not feeling the impact of what is a record year of giving.
And so that's, um, maybe a broad, high-level statement, but I will talk about some of the details behind the numbers, but the number's bigger in mass, but is that hitting the nonprofits that are delivering critical value in their communities? I would say, based on our clients, no, they're not feeling that increase.
They're finding it harder and more complicated, en masse, to tap into funding in order to continue to deliver avenues of work.
Most of who we're talking to in the nonprofit space are not seeing it as easy to tap into funding.
It's more and more challenging to unlock this record amount of capital that is, uh, apparently flowing out to the nonprofit space.
It's, um, and we're gonna get into the details, as you said, but they're not feeling it, and I think that's exacerbated by the uncertainty that we've had for the last couple years in their funding, a lot of them that get public sector funding.
That certainly adds to that too, not just the, the banner top-line number of it increased.
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