AFP 101: Why Fundraisers Join and Stay Free Informational Webinar

Fundraising Talent Drain

Nonprofits entered 2026 still absorbing the shock of 2025 federal funding cuts that exposed over-reliance on government grants and sharpened competition for private support. Fundraisers, responsible for closing the resulting gaps, are exiting at rates that compound every other pressure. A fall 2024 Candid survey of nonprofit staff—fielded just before the cuts hit hardest—found only 32% intend to remain in the sector indefinitely; among fundraising roles the figure for those planning to leave or search within a year reached 67%.

Top reasons have stayed consistent: too much work and too little support (59%), limited growth opportunities (54%), unsupportive management (52%) and inadequate pay and benefits (50%). These internal strains collide with external data from the Fundraising Effectiveness Project. Through Q1 2025 donor numbers fell 1.3% year-on-year while overall retention slipped to an estimated 18.1% from 18.3% the prior year; new-donor retention held at roughly 14%. Experienced fundraisers take institutional knowledge and personal donor relationships with them, accelerating the shift toward reliance on ever-larger gifts from fewer sources—an approach that has repeatedly proved fragile.

Less visible is the structural trade-off. Boards and executives demand immediate revenue results yet rarely fund the infrastructure—mentorship programmes, competitive benefits packages or protected professional-development time—that retains talent. At the same time, emerging tools such as AI-driven analytics and new payment channels require continuous upskilling that cash-strapped organisations struggle to deliver internally. Professional associations offer one partial remedy by linking practitioners across employers, yet membership itself sits in tension with rising dues and a younger workforce accustomed to flexible, low-commitment arrangements.

The stakes are measurable. Turnover events routinely cut donor loyalty by double digits and drain budgets already squeezed by inflation and service demand. With the profession responsible for hundreds of billions in North American giving annually, sustained attrition risks slower recovery from funding shocks, reduced programme capacity and, ultimately, diminished support for the communities nonprofits exist to serve.