Danish fundraising association and EFA member ISOBRO has published its annual Fundraising Indsigt report, containing essays from nine experts.

The report also stresses that organisations need internal cultures that empower fundraising professionals, better understanding of what motivates different donors, and digital strategies focused on community building and data collection, rather than broadcast advertising.

Lucas Regnér, head of fundraising at sex education charity RFSU, says in his essay that he aims for less than 5% unattributed conversions. He says that without a highly accurate and well-used CRM as part of an integrated data infrastructure, organisations cannot make proper, data-driven decisions.

This data-driven approach must extend to retention, argues Sandra Olsen, private fundraising leader at animal welfare charity Dyrenes Beskyttelse. She calls for sharper segmentation based on donor recency and warmth, with dedicated journeys for first-time donors and tailored reactivation for lapsed supporters.

Jeta Salihu, fundraising manager at Danish Muslim Aid and ISOBRO’s 2025 Fundraiser of the Year, advocates prioritising relationships over acquisition, with loyal donors receiving meaningful community, member events and transparent impact reporting.

Culture and motivation

Delivering on these ambitions requires organisational structures that empower fundraising professionals, argues Lisbet Christoffersen, head of communication, engagement and press at children’s charity Børns Vilkår.

She draws on her organisation’s decade-long journey to embed fundraising as a core discipline. Ten years ago, when Børns Vilkår intensified its fundraising focus, the initiative met internal resistance around costs and tactics.

The breakthrough came through deliberate cultural work. Børns Vilkår appointed “fundraising ambassadors” from other departments to spread positive narratives, and used office design to reinforce the mission with quotes from children helped by its BørneTelefonen service.

In another essay, independent consultant Christian Sophus Ehlers identifies six distinct donor motivations: altruistic, self-interested, identity-based, personally affected, community-oriented, and activist. He says that most organisations only communicate to one or two types.

Sanne Dollerup, partner at marketing agency Institut for Kundetyper, frames donor types through emotional problems they’re solving. She says that many charities focus on donors seeking community or safety, but overlook those motivated by powerlessness.

The report also includes a forward from ISOBRO’s general secretary Kenneth Kamp Butzbach, who writes:

“What they [the nine essays] have in common is a clear recognition: success in 2026 requires more than visibility and volume. It requires understanding, prioritisation and the will to develop our methods.”

Indeed, the current climate is likely to require further innovation from Danish fundraisers in 2026 – in December, Butzbach expressed frustration at recent Government actions which he said “make it harder for organisations to raise money”.

Picture by Getty Images for Unsplash+

It’s about more than just ‘doing good’: Why do fundraisers change jobs, and what will motivate them to stay? from Rogare has been written by British fundraising consultant Hannah Kowszun. It is based on her organizational psychology Master’s degree research exploring fundraisers’ job satisfaction and turnover intention.

Reasons for leaving

With many fundraisers leaving roles after as little as 18 months, the report finds that a key cause is boredom, due to roles being routine and not providing an opportunity to perform a full range of tasks.

Another reason they leave is a lack of ownership or control of their roles, with targets and processes often dictated to them from above.

While their attitudes towards the charities and causes they work for are major reasons why they become fundraisers in the first place, relying on this inherent pro-sociality – their drive to do good – is not enough to keep them in their jobs, the research found.

The research shows that job satisfaction among fundraisers is generally high, but that those who are unhappy in their roles are very unhappy. While this might appear an ‘obvious’ conclusion, Kowszun sought to go beyond that in her Master’s research by exploring the effect of three further questions on turnover intention:

1. Does the pro-social motivation of fundraisers affect their job satisfaction and therefore their intention to leave?
2. Does contact with beneficiaries/service users have an effect on job satisfaction and turnover intention?
3. In what way do the characteristics of a fundraiser’s day-to-day job affect their satisfaction and turnover intention?

The first two of these had no effect on a fundraisers’ intention to change jobs.

Explaining the findings, she says:

“The lack of a link between being pro-socially-minded and deciding to stay in a job is on the face of it surprising: Why would people leave jobs and causes they care about? Pro-sociality is a major reason why people become fundraisers in the first place. However, once in the job, it’s other factors that contribute to their feelings of job satisfaction.”

Key factors impacting decision to stay

By considering fundraisers’ roles using a tool called the Job Characteristics Model, Kowszun concludes there are two key factors that contribute to fundraisers’ intention to stay in their jobs (and the absence of which cause them to want to leave):

• Autonomy – the degree of freedom and independence given to them to perform their roles, which for fundraisers ought to include having a say in setting their targets.
• Skill variety – how much the role requires the use of a number of different skills and talents.

Kowszun concludes:

“While the role of fundraiser is unique in the nonprofit and commercial sectors, fundraisers are nonetheless just like members of every other profession in that they want autonomy over, and ownership of, the work they do, and to exercise a full range of skills in carrying out this work.

“When it comes to tackling the retention crisis in fundraising, this is what we need to consider. Yes, fundraisers will always deserve remuneration commensurate with their level of knowledge, expertise and competence. But give fundraisers more control and invest in their skills, and they are more likely to carry on delivering for their chosen charity, rather than go searching for better.”

Tips for retaining fundraisers

Three processes are recommended that could help retain fundraisers:

1. Dual promotion tracks – under which promotion is decoupled from the requirement to be a manager.
2. Continuing professional development – that is designed to give fundraisers mastery over their craft rather than be merely competent at it.
3. Retention interviews – why wait until someone leaves to ask them about their reasons for going? Conduct informal interviews to find out if staff are happy in their jobs and if not, what can be done about it.

The new report can be downloaded from www.rogare.net/turnover.

Picture by Megan Rexazin Conde on Pixabay