What’s Next for Nonprofits: 2025 Predictions from Sector Experts

Summary

Nonprofit Mastermind Podcast: What’s Next for Nonprofits – 2025 Predictions from Sector Experts

Release Date: January 21, 2025
Host: Brooke Richie-Babbage

In this insightful episode of the Nonprofit Mastermind Podcast, host Brooke Richie-Babbage gathers a panel of seasoned social sector experts to share their predictions for the nonprofit landscape in 2025. Covering a diverse range of topics from corporate partnerships and artificial intelligence (AI) to leadership transitions and community building, the episode offers a comprehensive outlook for nonprofit founders and leaders aiming to navigate the evolving challenges and opportunities ahead.

1. The Impact of Political Shifts on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Perry Radford, a fundraising coach and consultant from RAD Philanthropy, addresses the anticipated changes in support for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) amidst evolving political climates.

“With the change in presidential administration in early 2025, we'll probably see an even greater divide around support for diversity, equity, and inclusion... nonprofits may need to work twice as hard to make their critical impact.”
– Perry Radford (00:00–02:21)

Radford predicts a backlash against DEI policies, compelling nonprofits to deepen their support for vulnerable populations. This shift necessitates increased effort and strategic adaptation to maintain and enhance their impact in a potentially more challenging environment.

2. Authentic Mission-Driven Storytelling Amplified by Emerging Technologies

Daniel, a marketing and communications expert, emphasizes the growing importance of authentic storytelling in the nonprofit sector.

“Public trust continues to decline in traditional institutions. So this is why authenticity is going to, going to continue to come out more... community led marketing.”
– Daniel (02:21–03:50)

He highlights the role of generative AI and immersive media in scaling and enhancing raw, human-centric narratives. By leveraging these technologies, nonprofits can produce unfiltered stories that resonate more deeply with audiences, fostering trust and engagement through user-generated content and co-created initiatives.

3. Addressing Nonprofit Worker Burnout and Promoting Sustainable Practices

Returning to Perry Radford, the discussion shifts to the well-being of nonprofit professionals.

“Most nonprofit folks are going to be feeling lost, unfocused or busy... reflect and reprogram towards something more sustainable and personally peaceful... use our time intentionally and not reactively.”
– Perry Radford (03:50–05:15)

Radford acknowledges the relentless demands placed on nonprofit workers, exacerbated by economic inequalities and legislative challenges. He advocates for a strategic shift from reactive work modes to intentional, value-driven practices that promote organizational sustainability and personal well-being.

4. Elevating Executive Visibility to Build Trust and Connection

Tanya Bhattacharya, founder of Lumos Marketing, discusses the rising trend of executive visibility as a response to declining trust in institutions.

“Nonprofits and foundations can do this too, by really intentionally lifting up the voices of their internal team... employee posts actually outperform company pages by 561% on LinkedIn.”
– Tanya Bhattacharya (05:15–06:18)

Bhattacharya suggests that nonprofit leaders should become the faces and voices of their organizations, sharing authentic stories to build trust and foster deeper connections with stakeholders. This approach leverages the inherent trust people have in individuals over institutions, enhancing engagement and credibility.

5. Expanding Corporate Partnerships Through Employee Engagement

Heather Nelson, a corporate partnership specialist from Bridge Raise, explores the evolving dynamics of corporate-nonprofit collaborations.

“Companies are turning to their charitable partners as one of the ways to bring their employees closer together... engaging your employees is going to be a big part of that.”
– Heather Nelson (06:18–07:44)

Nelson forecasts an increase in partnerships centered around employee engagement programs, volunteerism, and educational initiatives. As companies seek to enhance community ties and provide meaningful experiences for their workforce, nonprofits will need to offer more comprehensive and interactive partnership opportunities.

6. Economic Trends and Corporate Giving

Stephen Nuland, a fractional CFO for nonprofits with MoneyPath, provides an economic perspective on corporate philanthropy.

“When interest rates drop, it means debt gets less expensive... leading to the biggest increase in corporate giving over the last five years.”
– Stephen Nuland (07:44–08:49)

Nuland anticipates that declining interest rates will stimulate economic activity, resulting in increased corporate revenues and, consequently, higher allocations for corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. This trend is expected to significantly boost corporate sponsorships and philanthropic contributions to nonprofits.

7. The Power of Community Building in the Digital Age

Naomi Hataway from Leaving Well Consulting highlights the critical role of community building in fostering human connection.

“2025 will be the year for social impact leaders to lean into the transformative power of human connection through authentic, purpose driven community building.”
– Naomi Hataway (08:49–10:01)

Hataway underscores the necessity for nonprofits to create meaningful, interactive spaces where individuals can connect, share experiences, and collaborate towards common goals. This approach not only strengthens organizational resilience but also transforms passive supporters into active advocates through collective engagement.

8. Navigating Leadership Transitions and Building Organizational Resilience

Naomi Hataway continues with additional insights on leadership dynamics within nonprofits.

“Organizations will need to prioritize crisis management experience in new leaders... undertake a stress test of your organization's succession planning.”
– Naomi Hataway (10:01–11:25)

She predicts increased CEO and Executive Director departures due to DEI funding shifts and pandemic-related retirements. Hataway advises nonprofits to enhance their succession planning and crisis-ready leadership to maintain stability and resilience during transitions.

9. Fostering Micro Connections for Enhanced Donor Engagement

Kel Haney of Kelhaney Consulting builds on previous insights by focusing on micro connections within the social impact sector.

“It's really going to be about figuring out how to connect in a way that is super personal and super niche.”
– Kel Haney (11:25–12:44)

Haney envisions a shift towards personalized, one-on-one interactions with donors and supporters. Whether through handwritten notes, meaningful phone calls, or intimate in-person gatherings, fostering these micro connections will enhance donor loyalty and engagement by making interactions more personal and memorable.

Conclusion

Brooke Richie-Babbage wraps up the episode by encouraging listeners to engage with the podcast through ratings, reviews, and additional resources available in her newsletter, Leadership Ford 321. The diverse perspectives shared by the experts provide a robust framework for nonprofits to anticipate and adapt to the upcoming trends in 2025. From leveraging technology for authentic storytelling to prioritizing community building and sustainable leadership practices, these insights are invaluable for nonprofit leaders aiming to scale their impact effectively and sustainably.

For more information and resources discussed in this episode, visit BrookeRichieBabbage.com/podcast.

Transcript

[Brooke Richie Babbage]

I love this episode. Every year I ask a group of the most insightful creative on the ground impact driving social sector experts that I know to share their predictions for the coming year. This year, 2025, we have a great compilation covering everything from corporate partnerships and AI to finance to personal development. Now predictions are obviously just that, carefully considered insights into what we think is coming down the road. But these are the folks to listen to. They're on the ground doing the real work of supporting nonprofits and nonprofit leaders like you. They've got their pulse on trends, what to pay attention to, what you may have missed, and what you can safely ignore as distractions. That's my favorite. So I hope you enjoy listening to this episode and get as much out of it as I have in pulling it together. I'll get right to it. Enjoy. Welcome to the Nonprofit Mastermind Podcast. I'm Brooke Richie Babbage. I've been in the social impact game for 25 years as a social justice lawyer turned two time nonprofit founder and leader turned growth strategist and coach for leaders around the country. I grew my nonprofit from me and an intern in a tiny closet to a high impact seven figure organization. And along the way I learned so so much about how to build an organization that has real impact and how to do it without burning out. In this podcast I share the nuts and bolts of all of it so you can do that too. We dive into the mindset, strategies and tactics of how to scale a high impact organization and how to do it in a way that's truly sustainable.

[Perry Radford]

I think with the change in presidential administration in early 2025, we'll probably see an even greater divide around support for diversity, equity and inclusion. I imagine that the backlash against EI policies and mindsets will only increase, which will then inspire and require more and more nonprofit organizations to try to counteract this backlash by deepening their support to vulnerable populations. And we're really lucky to have nonprofits who remain committed to those who need it most, but they may need to work twice as hard to make their critical impact.

[Daniel]

Daniel Here One of the most significant trends shaping the social impact sector in 2025 from a marketing and communications perspective, as that's my main area of focus. It's got to be hyper authentic mission driven storytelling and that can be amplified and made more efficient by all this emerging tech that's coming out that like generative AI and immersive media. And we know that everyone is talking about AI as part of their predictions here, but I really want to focus on Storytelling at scale and also making it more real, more, more raw. Public trust continues to decline in traditional institutions. So this is why authenticity is going to, going to continue to come out more, even more than it has this year. I think social impact organizations will focus heavily on sharing these unfiltered human, human centric stories that really resonate less polished. I do think AI will play a role in helping to scale that with, you know, things like transcriptions and quick editing tools and things like that. The rise of, you know, more short form content, more live content. At the end of the day though, let's, let's focus on this community led marketing. You know, lean heavily on community voices and community members to leverage what's known in marketing also as ugc user generated content and content that's co created with audiences. So that's some of my predictions for 2025.

[Perry Radford]

Hey party people. This is Perry Radford, fundraising coach and consultant from RAD Philanthropy. Our sector is shaped by our people. So my prediction for 2025 is that most nonprofit folks are going to be feeling lost, unfocused or busy. For so many of us nonprofit workers who are already carers by nature, it's hard to get out of a reactive the house is on fire mode. This has gotten even more extreme as we faced increasing income equality, never ending global pandemic, and a lot more. And let's not forget about recent attempts to undermine our entire sector with the so called nonprofit killer bill as well. So I propose to you two options. Another year of struggling on the hamster wheel of reactivity, or a year to reflect and reprogram towards something more sustainable and personally peaceful. As Octavia Butler said, there is no end to what a living world will demand of you. I think every nonprofit staffer can feel that deep in their bones. So what demands are you ready to reject? What is really important in your work and in your community? What better life can you lead to aid in your purpose of making the world a better place? If we believe we can change the world, we must believe we can change ourselves so that we may stand on our values every day and use our time intentionally and not reactively. We've got this. Hey there.

[Tanya Bhattacharya]

I'm Tanya Bhattacharya, the founder of Lumos Marketing and I think a trend that will shape the sector in 2025 is the rise of executive visibility. So over the last couple of years we have seen and there's data to prove that trust in American institutions, whether it's the news and the media, corporations, government, and even Science like that trust has been declining. And so in response, a lot of corporations are hiring internal corporate, corporate, like, content creators, whose job it is to share stories and perspectives that build connection and trust on behalf of that company. And so nonprofits and foundations can do this too, by really intentionally lifting up the voices of their internal team. People naturally trust other people way more than institutions, which is part of why this works so well and part of why employee posts actually outperform company pages by 561% on LinkedIn. Right. So next year, I believe we're going to see more and more leaders step stepping forward as faces and voices of the work. Thanks for listening.

[Heather Nelson]

I'm Heather Nelson from Bridge Raise, and I'm a corporate partnership specialist. And when I think about the corporate partnership landscape of companies partnering with nonprofits, I really think that the most important trend we're going to see is that, you know, we're all looking for community and for belonging, and that is extending to our workplaces where people are, are working on different days and remotely and in all kinds of different ways in the current environment. And companies are turning to their charitable partners as one of the ways to bring their employees closer together to align on needs in their own communities, needs in the world. And they can do that through their employee engagement programs, through employee volunteerism. And we're going to see more and more of that, more partnerships based on companies looking to charities to teach their employees things and educate them on things and do activities with them and sometimes have volunteer opportunities. I think the variety is going to widen, and this is going to be super important because another trend is that companies are working with less charities, so they're really going to be looking for more from your partnership. And engaging your employees is going to be a big part of that. Engaging their employees is going to be a big part of that.

[Stephen Nuland]

Hey, this is Stephen Nuland. I'm a fractional CFO for nonprofits with MoneyPath. I expect interest rates to drop further in 2025. And so what does that mean, like, practically speaking? Well, when interest rates drop, it means debt gets less expensive, so businesses will spend less money on interest. It also typically means that, you know, if interest rates are coming down, typically the it's going to result in more economic activity. And when there's increased economic activity, that means there's typically going to be more to the bottom line of businesses. And when there's more business to be captured, money starts to flow into marketing costs and at businesses. And we all know when that marketing budget gets a little bit bigger. That means more sponsorships and more corporate corporate opportunities to give. So I think this on the economic side, in addition to the trend of increased corporate responsibility initiatives, I think it's going to lead to the biggest increase in corporate giving over the last five years. That's my prediction for 2025.

[Naomi Hataway]

I believe in 2025 community building will be the most significant trend shaping the social impact sector. As our world becomes more digitally connected, it's clear we're facing a deep societal hunger for real human connection. People want to belong, to be seen and to be part of something bigger than themselves. And social impact organizations, I believe are uniquely positioned to meet this need. It's no longer enough to broadcast messages or rely on one way relationships with stakeholders. The future is about creating spaces where people can connect meaningfully, share experiences and work together towards shared goals. This shift isn't just about strengthening individual organizations. It's about addressing a profound cultural and emotional gap community has the power to heal, to foster trust in times of division, and to turn isolation into collaboration. Organizations that embrace this trend will transform passive supporters into advocates, spark innovation through collective effort, and build resilience to tackle complex challenges in a world craving belonging. 2025 will be the year for social impact leaders to lean into the transformative power of human connection through authentic, purpose driven community building.

I believe that 2025 is going to bring an even greater increased wave of CEO and ED departures. I think that this is particularly going to be due to DEI related funding shifts as well as pandemic delayed retirements. Thinking about folks that maybe have stayed on longer than they were planning to to maintain organization stability. I believe organizations will need more support with structured succession planning and interim leadership during emergency departures and extended executive search we have never seen before in 2025. I have another prediction. I think that nonprofits are going to have to elevate their crisis ready leadership experience inside of their organizations. Organizations will need to prioritize crisis management experience in new leaders that they hire as well as building up the bench of that kind of strength internally with the folks that you already have. Organizations are also going to need to build robust contingency plans in 2025. We have so much coming down the pipeline that we are not even aware of over the next four years of the so another wise plan in 2025 will be to undertake a stress test, if you will, of your organization's succession planning. Test out your emergency leadership protocols. All of this will help bolster organizational resilience during the transitions that are inevitable because people leave. I'm Naomi Hataway and I run the Leaving well Consulting. You can find [e-mail] hi there, this.

[Kel Haney]

Is Kel Haney of Kelhaney Consulting and my Social impact prediction for 2025 inspired by a prediction that I've heard Brooke making which is about building micro communities. And I want to build on that idea and say I'm predicting that the social impact sector is going to really focus on micro connections in 2025. So any of you who know me and my work, I'm all about a 5 minute fundraising phone call that can be both solicitation and stewardship, but I think it's going to extend further. I actually have one colleague who sent out friendship bracelets as a thank you for their year end giving and this is a really large organization that's been around a long time and that felt really specific and niche. So I think it's really going to be about niching down and figuring out how we really connect humans to other humans. So figuring out how not not for profit leaders and fundraisers can connect one on one with our community. So whether that's a phone call or it is a handwritten note or it is an in person gathering that super simple or friendship bracelets, I think it's really going to be about figuring out how to connect in a way that is super personal and super niche.

[Brooke Richie Babbage]

Thanks so much for joining me this week. If you enjoy this podcast I would love for you to leave a rating and a review. I read every single one and they really do matter. I also share extra tidbits and resources building on what we talk about here in my newsletter, Leadership Ford 321. You can sign up by texting the word impact to 66866 and finally, definitely check out the links and resources that I mentioned this [e-mail] backslash podcast see you.