🌱 $13 Trillion. One #GT. Your Move.

Date: November 17, 2025

Smart Brevity^® count: 5 mins...1371 words

🌟 Imagine how you’d feel if you’d already hit your fundraising goal for the year.

That’s exactly where several of our clients are right now. Calm. Confident. Focused on deepening relationships instead of scrambling for dollars.

Situational awareness: What you do next is what matters most.
Because the organizations that grow are the ones willing to look honestly at what’s shifting, adapt sooner than feels comfortable, and plant the seeds that will carry them into the next season.

Across this month’s edition, we’re unpacking the trends, decisions, language, and small-but-bold actions that move you from uncertainty to momentum.

Let’s dive in…

1. #GT: Too crowded to matter or too important to miss?

How do you incorporate #GT into your year-end fundraising plan?

We don't do anything. It's too noisy.

It launches our year-end campaign.

It's part of our year-end campaign.

It IS our year-end campaign.

Your response is anonymous

Not planning anything for GivingTuesday yet?

You still have time.

Don’t sit out one of the biggest generosity moments of the year.
Yes, it’s noisy–but it also moves donors to give.

Three reasons to jump in:

It’s simple.

The playbook, branding, graphics, and language are done for you. Grab plug-and-play assets today and don’t get stuck answering the question from a well-intentioned board member or donor, “Why didn’t you participate in #GivingTuesday?”
It delivers.

One of our clients saw 149% revenue growth and 300% donor growth from 2023 to 2024 during the week of GivingTuesday. That’s proof the day drives real results.
It boosts visibility.

Donors watch for it. Even a small campaign puts your mission back on their radar at the exact moment they’re ready to give.

The bottom line: If you haven’t launched anything yet, start small – but start. This day is too valuable to skip.

2. 💰 $13.8 trillion up for grabs

A vivid cartoon of money flowing from one generation to the next, and nonprofit organizations with their hand out, but being skipped over.

Over the course of the next 10 - 15 years, the largest, wealthiest generation (they hold half the nation’s wealth) will pass on its assets - and mostly to designated heirs.

The big picture: If that doesn’t get your attention, we don’t know what will.

Why it matters: Nonprofits will never again see a generation as loyal or as financially influential as Baby Boomers. When they’re gone, nothing of equal size or generosity follows.

The trend: The most generous Boomers have been giving larger gifts, which hides a troubling reality.

The Lilly School of Philanthropy reports a 20-year decline in the number of Americans who give.
The donors who remain are giving more.

By the numbers: 95% of your revenue is likely coming from 5% of your donors. Don’t believe it?

Pull your revenue report and sort by gift size.
The pattern is unmistakable.

What leaders miss: Too many boards, CEOs, and advancement teams judge success by one metric: Did we raise more than last year?

But more dollars from fewer donors with fewer years ahead shouldn’t reassure anyone.

A rising share of funds raised this year now comes from realized bequests. (“Realized bequests” are gifts from donors who passed away after decades of loyalty.)
That percentage will only climb.

Where to focus: Estate gifts most often come from people who have given to you for 20+ years, even if those gifts were small.

This is your loyal base.
Your “quiet champions.”
The donors whose lifetime value far exceeds their annual gift.

Ignore them, and you widen the gap. Nurture them, and you stabilize your future.

Bottom line: Loyalty is your most undervalued asset. Steward it like your mission depends on it. Because it does.

More next month on reshaping your fundraising in the year ahead.

3. Brick by Brick: A Solid Foundation for Donor Development

Last month I was in Saginaw, MI, with an exceptional group of nonprofit leaders because of a visionary group of financial services leaders.

Every year, Tri-Star Trust’s Philanthropic Solutions Group hosts an onsite workshop open to all nonprofit leaders in central Michigan - clients and non-clients alike.
For the last 3 years, I’ve had the privilege of being the workshop facilitator and keynote speaker.

Shifting winds: This year, we doubled down on building lasting donor relationships. Why?

Because according to the October 2025 edition of Trusts & Estates, 36% of Baby Boomers have consciously stopped their support of nonprofits just as we’re on the cusp of the greatest wealth transfer of all time.

From the roots up: In a world where innovation and Ai is all the rage, we remembered that foundations are built one brick at a time.

Storytelling connects. We loved exploring how story frameworks can make our asks (and arguably more importantly, our gratitude) more powerful and authentic.
Relationships are everything. Over and over, leaders shared that the heart of fundraising lies in building stronger, more personal connections with donors.
Stewardship matters. Audience members left inspired to carry out structured follow-up plans and more consistent touch points.

Water this: It’s not enough to just plant the seeds.

They need to be planted in the right place at the right time to begin with. That’s where strategy comes into play.
Strategy brings clarity. Learning how to segment donors, align messaging with priorities, and formalize efforts into a focused plan was a good use of everyone’s time.

Branching ahead: Confidence grows with action.

Most people started the day feeling “average” about their fundraising potential and ended it feeling more optimistic, energized, and equipped to take the next step.

The bottom line: Tend your donor relationships now and you’re prepared for the coming wealth transfer. Ignore them, and you miss the moment entirely.

4. Words that work (and those that don’t)

One big idea: Specific language inspires generosity. Vague language doesn’t.

Why it matters: Kevin Brown—author of Fundable & Findable and someone whose content we love—highlighted a word in his newsletter this week that’s quietly hurting your fundraising.

That word is empower.

What Kevin calls out:

It’s generic. Millions of nonprofits use it, so you sound like everyone else.
It hides the real work. Stronger verbs like train, shelter, treat, or fund connect far better.
It can create a savior tone. As Kevin notes, “difference = donations,” and language shapes power dynamics.

Where this aligns: His insight fits our own donor-centric communication model.

We’ve seen it again and again.
When your language is clear, concrete, and human, donors lean in.

Try this: Scan your messaging.

If “empower” shows up, replace it with a verb that reflects what you actually do.
It’s a small shift with a big payoff.

Cause and effect: Do this in your messaging and watch your engagement rise. Don’t, and your words risk blending into the background with everyone else’s.

The bottom line: Stop empowering.

Start getting specific.
That’s where trust (and giving) grows.

5. 🎉 M.O.R.E. Possibilities’ fundraising success

Screenshot of MORE Possibilities Website

Two years ago, running a successful year-end campaign seemed unattainable for LFGYW member Sarah Bamber and the team at M.O.R.E. Possibilities.

Why it matters: Sarah founded M.O.R.E. to fill a community gap, helping adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) find belonging and purpose.

Last year, they set a modest goal of $10,000 and achieved it right at year end.
This year, they aimed for $20,000 and hit it by November 7 after refining their campaign through our Amplify Strategy Session.

What’s next: They’ve raised their goal again to $30,000 to help remove people from the waitlist and expand their impact in 2026.

Sarah’s strategy relies on heart, message clarity, and planning, not on a big mailing list or wealthy friends.

Planting seeds: This campaign didn’t happen by accident.

Sarah has been moving through our self-paced Laying a Foundation program and has seen meaningful, incremental growth over the past year.

What they’re saying: The best time to get started in this program is when you don’t feel like you have the time.

Start now, and come November 2026, you’ll be celebrating rather than scrambling.
That’s the quiet power of starting before you feel ready.

The bottom line: Raising your sights isn’t a sign of dreaming too small. It’s proof that your foundation is strong enough to support the growth you’ve been working toward.

Congratulations to Sarah and the entire M.O.R.E. team for showing what becomes possible when strategy and heart work together 🎉.

📈 Ready to experience a breakthrough?

One month remains. Donors are most generous right now.
Act today, because waiting means chasing a shortfall into next year.

Book your complimentary 15 minute Quick-Win Strategy Call and get ready to reimagine what’s possible.

Schedule Today

Was this edition useful?