Fewer Donors, Bigger Gifts?
What the Changing Philanthropy Landscape Means for Public Media
Something important is happening in philanthropy.
According to Giving USA, Americans gave an estimated $617.2 billion to charitable organizations in 2025, up 5.7% in current dollars and 3% after inflation. At the same time, the Fundraising Effectiveness Project estimates that the number of donors declined by 3.6%, continuing a downward trend that began in 2021.
More money is being given, but by fewer people
Public media, however, experienced something quite different in 2025: extraordinary growth in both donors and giving. That creates a distinctive opportunity. How do we sustain this broader community of support while also deepening relationships with donors who are ready to give more?
CDP's data suggests the answer isn't one or the other. The opportunity is to do both.
Public media bucked the donor trend
More than 1 million new donors entered the public media system in 2025, while existing and potential higher-capacity donors also increased their support.
That influx gives public media an opportunity few nonprofit sectors currently have: a larger donor community from which to build lasting support.
The donor pipeline itself is changing
Public media’s 2025 fundraising surge did more than add donors to the file. It changed the composition of the donor community.
As CDP explored in From Crisis Response to Lasting Change: The 2025 New Donor Story, our analysis of 319,000 new donors across 51 Member Services Bureau stations found that younger donors represented a significantly larger share of new supporters in 2025.
Millennials increased from 13% of new donors in the preceding three years to 20% in 2025. When Gen Z is included, donors younger than 45 nearly doubled as a share of new donors.
For this conversation, two additional findings are particularly important:
More than 60% of Millennial and Gen Z donors chose sustaining gifts.
Silent and Boomer donors still accounted for 63% of revenue from new donors.
Together, these findings reveal two complementary sources of strength: Older donors continue to generate a significant share of current revenue, while public media has welcomed a larger cohort of younger supporters, many beginning with a sustaining commitment.
The opportunity here is to deepen the relationships driving this newfound generosity while cultivating a changing donor community for the future.
A first gift is only the beginning
CDP’s FY2026 State of Fundraising Report points to both opportunity and risk as public media works to retain its extraordinary influx of new supporters. Overall donor retention reached 79% in FY2026, but the picture looks very different for first-year donors depending on how they gave.
Among new non-sustaining donors, retention was 38%, while 74% of new sustaining donors were retained into their 13th month. At the same time, the share of first-year donors choosing sustaining gifts increased to 46% in FY2026.
Those numbers reinforce just how consequential the donors' experience after the first gift can be. A contribution made during an urgent moment does not automatically become sustained support.
The FUND study, a recent donor survey conducted by City Square Associates in partnership with Greater Public and CDP, offers some clues about what comes next. Seventy percent of new donors were already regularly engaged with their station before making their first gift, suggesting that the contribution was often a new expression of an existing connection.
The research also points to ways stations can continue to strengthen existing connections. Donors placed high value on local news and community connection while continuing to value national programming, and they want to understand the impact their support is making.
Retention, then, isn't only about asking for the next gift. It's about continuing to demonstrate why the relationship matters.
Bigger giving deserves attention, too
CDP’s FY2026 State of Fundraising Report also shows just how important higher-level giving has become for public media. Revenue from donors giving $1,000+ more than doubled in FY2026, helping drive the system’s overall revenue growth. Half of all high-end donors were either new to the file or existing donors giving at that level for the first time, compared with about 25% in prior years.
But growth at these levels also raises the stakes for stewardship. CDP’s analysis has found that higher-level donors are more likely to return, but also more likely to downgrade, and more recent results are showing early signs of pressure on high-dollar donor retention and upgrading.
That makes recognizing a donor's increased commitment especially important. A supporter who has moved into a higher level of giving may need a more personalized approach to engagement and stewardship than they received before.
The opportunity isn't simply to celebrate the increase in higher-level giving. It's to recognize what those gifts may be telling us about a donor's relationship with the mission and respond accordingly.
What should public media prioritize now?
The strategic question is not simply, “How do we move donors up?” It is: "How do we recognize and respond when a donor is ready for a deeper relationship with the mission?"
Not every donor will follow the same path. But stations can create clear opportunities for supporters to deepen their involvement when their interests, engagement and circumstances align.
Make the second gift a strategic milestone
A first contribution is an important acquisition result. The second contribution begins to signalthe potential for an ongoing relationship. Donor communications between those two distinct moments should cultivate and reinforce the donor’s connection to public media, not simply lead to another ask.
Protect the sustaining relationship
More than 60% of Millennial and Gen Z donors in CDP’s analysis chose sustaining gifts. Stations should focus on the complete sustaining donor journey, from onboarding and sustaining donor engagement to payment continuity.
Recognize and steward deeper giving
Recognize when a donor has significantly increased their commitment and respond with stewardship that feels personal, timely and connected to the donor's interests. Make opportunities for mid-level, major, non-cash and planned giving visible, but don't let the giving vehicle become the relationship.
Connect fundraising data with engagement
Giving history tells only part of the story. Listening, viewing, streaming and event participation can provide valuable context for understanding a donor’s relationship with the station. Combining giving and engagement signals can help stations better understand not just how much someone gives, but what connects them to the mission.
Measure the health of the entire pipeline
Revenue matters, but so do acquisition, first-to-second-gift conversion, retention, sustaining participation and deeper forms of giving. Together, these measures provide a fuller picture of long-term fundraising health.
From an extraordinary moment to lasting growth
Public media’s influx of new supporters creates an opportunity that extends well beyond a single fundraising moment.
The path forward is to strengthen the relationships driving generosity today while cultivating the community of donors who can advance public media tomorrow.
That means giving people meaningful reasons to stay connected and support the mission in ways that make sense for them.
Turning this moment into lasting growth isn’t only about what donors give next. It’s about the relationships we build next.
Want to go deeper? Further explore the latest donor, retention and revenue trends by downloading CDP’s FY2026 State of Fundraising Report.