Over the 2025 year-end season, I noticed a pattern. Different organizations. Different missions. Different donor communities. But they all had the same signal.

The largest gifts were coming from smaller groups of people. At the same time, smaller, transactional annual gifts were more uneven than in years past. Not disappearing or losing their importance, but becoming less consistent and predictable. 

Meanwhile, donors who felt personally connected—those who had experienced thoughtful communication, real conversation, and a sense of shared purpose—were leaning in. They gave more, stayed involved longer, and responded with greater consistency.

That’s when the bigger insight became clear: connection is the new economy.

If that’s true, then 2026 is going to reward a particular kind of fundraising, one rooted in focus, trust, and relationship, not volume for volume’s sake. 

If I had to name the shift ahead, it’s this:

2026 is the year we get focused, and 2026 is the year where small becomes the new big.

“Small” doesn’t mean doing less. It means choosing depth over distraction. It means recognizing that donors are seeking meaningful connection, not constant communication, and that trust grows through relevance, care, and consistency. 

Connection Is the New Economy

Here’s something worth saying gently and honestly. 

Your donors aren’t sitting around wishing for more email or waiting by the phone for another meeting request. They’re thoughtful, generous people with full lives and limited attention.

Which means the challenge isn’t how often you reach out, it’s how meaningful it feels when you do.

In today’s environment, donors are constantly, often subconsciously, asking a few simple questions:

• Is this worth my attention?
• Was this created with intention?
• Does this help me understand the impact I care about?

The organizations seeing momentum right now aren’t trying to say more. They’re saying less, communicating with greater intention, clarity, and care. They’re focusing their energy on the relationships that show alignment and potential. They understand that trust-based giving compounds differently.

And this is important to name clearly:

Focusing your efforts is not exclusion. Designing fundraising around depth and connection, rather than sheer volume alone, is not neglect. Investing where trust grows strongest is stewardship.

Why Focus Is the Superpower of 2026

Focus isn’t about narrowing your mission or limiting your ambition. It’s about protecting the conditions that make generosity possible in the first place.

In a landscape crowded with constant demands for attention, focus is how organizations:

• build real community
• deepen donor trust
• create clarity instead of noise

This is where AI, used thoughtfully, can play a meaningful role. Not by replacing human connection, but by lightening the administrative load so humans can do the work only humans can do: listening, learning, and building relationships.

How AI Can Support Trust-Based Fundraising (By Making Space for the Human Work)

1. Let AI Reduce the Administrative Weight

Administrative work is necessary, but it’s not where generosity begins. When teams are buried in notes, reminders, and task management, even the most thoughtful relationships can start to feel transactional.

Used well, AI can help carry some of that weight by:

• summarizing donor notes
• organizing follow-ups
• drafting first-pass communications
• managing calendars and task lists

When that load is lighter, something important happens. You get time back, not just time to do more, but time to prepare thoughtfully, reflect on what you’re learning, and follow up with care.

2. Use AI to Prepare—So You Can Be Fully Present

AI is especially helpful before the conversation.

It can help you:

• review donor history
• identify interests and patterns
• think through questions in advance
• draft clear next steps

The result isn’t a scripted meeting. It’s a calmer one.

And calm matters. When you’re grounded, you listen more closely. When you listen well, donors feel respected. And when donors feel respected, relationships deepen.

3. Strengthen Stewardship Without Losing the Human Touch

Stewardship is where small becomes powerful. It’s also where consistency matters.

AI can help with structure—drafting notes, organizing timelines, and suggesting touchpoints—but meaning still comes from you: the personal message, the thoughtful check-in, the acknowledgment that reflects what the donor actually cares about.

AI can support the framework. Humans create the connection.

4. Say Less—But Make It Count

One of the most useful applications of AI is refinement. It can help clarify dense messaging, thoughtfully repurpose a strong story, and tailor updates based on donor interests.

The goal isn’t more output. It’s more intention.

Higher-quality touchpoints, shared with purpose and care, build more trust than constant communication ever could.

5. Build Confidence Before the Conversation

Preparation builds confidence. And confidence allows leaders to show up grounded, curious, and open, rather than rushed or reactive.

Through prompts, practice conversations, or guided reflection, AI can help leaders:

• articulate impact more clearly
• think through donor questions
• stay centered during important conversations

When you feel prepared, you don’t rush. When you don’t rush, you connect. That’s where trust lives.

A Simple Rule for 2026

As AI becomes more common in nonprofit work, clarity matters. The goal isn’t to adopt tools for their own sake, but to use them in ways that strengthen relationships.

A simple rule can help guide your decisions: If AI helps bring you closer to people, use it. If it starts to replace human connection, pause.

AI isn’t your mission or your strategy. It’s a support tool. The work itself is about community.

Let AI take on repetitive, administrative tasks:

• organizing
• summarizing
• drafting
• scheduling
• repurposing

So you can focus on the human parts of the work that actually create generosity:

• listening
• reflecting
• stewarding
• building trust
• strengthening relationships

When attention is focused, smaller efforts can have greater impact. That’s where generosity grows.

Let technology handle the busywork. You do the human work.

P.S. A Thoughtful Way to Use AI—Without Losing the Human Thread

If the idea that connection matters in fundraising resonates, one practical way to act on it is by better understanding how your donors actually think and what they care about.

That’s why I built a custom Donor Avatar GPT—to help nonprofit leaders use AI as a learning lens into donor psychology, motivations, and decision-making patterns.

Think of it as a peek behind the curtain:

• What builds trust for your donors
• What helps them feel confident in giving
• What language and signals matter most to them

When you understand your donors more deeply, you can say less, say it better, and build relationships that last.

If AI is going to be part of your toolkit, this is one place where it can genuinely support the human side of fundraising.

👉 Access the Donor Avatar tool here

Because taking the time to understand your donors is one of the most generous things you can do.