Fundraising organizations are navigating a period of significant disruption. Federal funding pressures, shifting donor demographics, rising channel costs, and more complex acquisition dynamics are making growth harder to sustain through legacy approaches alone. At the same time, nonprofits are hearing more claims about being “data-driven” and “AI-enabled,” without always having a clear way to distinguish meaningful capability from surface-level positioning.
This session offers a practical perspective on what it means to be truly data-driven in fundraising today. It will examine where traditional models are starting to show strain, why reporting alone is not enough, and how data and AI can help organizations test more intelligently, identify stronger opportunities for growth, and make better decisions across acquisition, donor value, and long-term strategy. Rather than focusing on hype, the discussion will center on how nonprofits can use better signals, better questions, and better operating discipline to build more resilient fundraising programs in a rapidly changing environment.
