Why People Give (and Give and Give): Understanding Donor Psychology and the Donor Journey
Do you know where the majority of nonprofit funding comes from? Most people guess grants, but it’s actually individual people. In 2025, over 60% of nonprofit dollars in the U.S. came from separate donors,* which makes them the most important part of the funding mix for most organizations by a wide margin. Ironically, though, personal contribution is frequently the most underdeveloped part of a young nonprofit’s fundraising strategy. If you fall into this group, don’t panic: for one thing, you’re not alone, and for another, it means there’s real room to grow.
Successful strategy always begins with basic understanding. So before we get into the more exciting “how”, let’s examine the crucial “why”. WHY do people actually give?
Why Do Donors Give?
Let’s make things a little more personal. Take a second and think of a nonprofit (that isn’t your own); one you’ve actually supported or would support if you could. What made you give or interested in giving?
The answers to that question consistently center around a handful of themes. Personal connection is one of the most significant. Maybe the mission resonated with something in your own life, your identity, or your lived experience. Emotional urgency is another; a compelling story or a moment of crisis can inspire people to act in ways that a routine appeal can’t. Trust and community matter too. People give more readily to organizations that feel credible, transparent, and local to the place they live. And social validation is a completely legitimate driver as well; it feels good to give, and it feels good to be part of something bigger than yourself.
There’s also a less romantic but still very real factor: tax incentives. If we’re being honest, this is a factor for many donors, especially for those thinking strategically about their giving.
No matter their differences, all of these reasons point back to one simple truth that’s become something of a mantra in the fundraising world: people give to people, to help people. Even when we’re staring at spreadsheets full of giving tiers and donation histories, it’s important to remember that fundraising is fundamentally a human interaction, not a numbers-and-screens exercise.
That’s also why we try to root our approach in community-centered principles: leading with integrity and inclusion, prioritizing collaboration over competition (there’s room at the table for everyone doing good work), treating every size of contribution as equally meaningful, seeing donors as genuine partners instead of transactions, and keeping the whole effort focused on lasting, meaningful change rather than just closing the next gift. Essentially, we prioritize keeping humanity at the center of our human organization.
How Do Donors Give?
Once you understand why people give, the next question is how they evolve from passive stranger to passionate advocate. We find it helpful to think of this as a journey with several stages instead of a simple line. And to make things even simpler, we’ve included a helpful outline for understanding where a supporter might be in their journey.
Awareness
This is how someone first discovers your organization. Maybe a friend mentioned you or they saw a news article. Their commute took them past your office; the algorithm connected you on social media. Unsurprisingly, that first touchpoint increasingly happens online, but plenty of people still find organizations the old-fashioned, in-real-life way.
Engagement
While awareness is the origin of a connection, engagement is the first real interaction you have with a prospective donor. It might come in the form of attending a program, following your organization on social media, subscribing to a newsletter, or even just visiting your website after hearing about you. Though small, it’s a crucial step toward involvement.
First Gift
At some point, someone decides to give for the first time. This is often inspired by a specific moment: an invitation to an event, a compelling wish list, a timely appeal that connects to something happening in the world. As we discussed above, everyone has their specific reasons!
Stewardship
Next, the relationship either deepens or quietly stalls out. What happens after that first gift is absolutely essential. Did you thank them? Did you show them the impact? Did you follow up in some way, even a small one? A quick thank-you note, a handwritten card from your executive director, an automated confirmation with a personal touch; all of these signal that the gift mattered and, perhaps most impactfully, that the donor is seen.
Upgrade
Consistent, thoughtful upkeep makes it possible that some donors will give again, and some will increase their gift or become recurring supporters. However, this step is never guaranteed and should not be treated as such. It only happens when the stewardship step is both done well and done consistently.
Advocacy
This is the strongest form of support a donor can provide. They start telling friends and family about your work. They volunteer. They talk about your organization unprompted, in their own community. This incredibly valuable contribution doesn’t happen overnight, it can’t be forced, and it won’t happen with every donor, but it’s the natural result of relationships built over time on a foundation of trust.
Donations Don’t Exist In A Vacuum
Remember, all donations are a small piece of a much-larger financial backdrop. Individual giving tends to closely parallel how people feel about the broader economy, which means periods of economic uncertainty can impact how much people are willing or able to give, even among longtime supporters. That’s not a reason to deprioritize individual giving; if anything, it’s a reason to invest even more in the relationship side of the equation. Donors who trust an organization and feel authentically connected to its mission tend to stay more resilient through uncertain periods, as opposed to donors who only responded to one compelling appeal.
There’s also a fascinating generational shift underway. As wealth increasingly transfers between age groups, more donors are thinking about legacy giving, whether that means a planned gift, a bequest, or simply being more intentional about when and how they give during their lifetime. Even if your organization isn’t actively soliciting planned gifts right now, be prepared with some basic language ready for those who ask, and be comfortable having that conversation if and when it comes up naturally.
What This Means For You
If you take away one thing from this article, let it be this: fundraising isn’t a one-off moment, but rather a sequence of touchpoints that either successfully build trust or fail to. If you’re only thinking about the ask, you’re missing the stages before it (which determine whether someone is ready to give at all) and the stages after it (which determine whether they’ll ever give again).
If individual giving feels underutilized in your organization right now, this is a great opportunity to invest your attention into it as one of the highest-leverage resources available. Understanding why your supporters give, where they are in their journey with you, and what will inspire them to give again allows you to maximize your management of the process. This in turn benefits the ultimate goal that brings us all together: changing the world one donor, one effort, and one organization at a time.
*Source: Giving USA / Candid, 2025 Giving Trends report.
About Mockingbird Analytics
Mockingbird Analytics is a B Corp consulting team that partners with nonprofits across the country on grantwriting, fundraising strategy, and organizational capacity building. We help mission-driven organizations build sustainable revenue systems without adding to an already full plate. Explore our services: mockingbirdanalytics.com