In this blog, I am going to try “crystal-balling it” to share my guesses as to what everyone’s going to be talking about, worrying about, and achieving in 2025. It’s an inexact science, but what can we surmise from the tea leaves left from 2024?
WHAT WE WILL BE TALKING ABOUT?
Political and economic trends will continue to challenge nonprofits, but now with the new administration in the White House, we need to “wait and see” what that means. How will campaign promises manifest in the next four years? The stock market seems to like what the next four years will hold. But how will that translate for the major and mid-level donors?
There have been hints that the next four years will be challenging for nonprofits working with New Americans, with refugees, and with immigrant populations. What will happen in education? Nonprofits dedicated to LGBTQIA populations or women’s health may have a tough time.
Nonprofit leaders will need to be more informed, resilient, and nimble than ever. Advocacy work will be more important than ever, to try and chip away at slim majorities.
WHAT WE WILL BE WORRYING ABOUT?
Futuristic trends such as crypto, and the increased use of AI, will infiltrate even more deeply into our lives than ever. If we haven’t already taken it for granted, AI factors into many spheres of our existence that we don’t even realize. From spell-check to all we can look up on our phones, to applications I couldn’t even imagine, there’s no going back.
But policing the onslaught will be a massive undertaking, and should take precedence in 2025. I have heard far too many grant writers say offhandedly that they use AI “all the time,” and turn in applications almost completely “written by AI.” AI can be extremely powerful, but so can greed and laziness (in the name of speed and efficiency). Ethical use of this tool cannot and should not be left to the individual; it needs to be mandated.
Fortunately, many funders have gotten wise and installed AI-detection software to root out applicants whose overuse of AI has “rubber-stamped” their robotic proposals. Using AI to gather and harness integrated data for our Need Statements is one thing, but to have it write full proposals, unchecked, is beyond the pale.
WHAT WE WILL BE ACHIEVING?
The next generation of donors, and their values, will impact the way we view nonprofit fundraising events and experiences, including experiential giving. Those dress-up galas in big ballrooms with silent auctions and sit-down dinners and dancing may be on the way out. In their place, we may see more community events that better reflect the values of the organization and its constituents, and send a different message, appealing to a younger donor.
The next generation will also populate more of the nonprofit world’s boardrooms, and bring their worldviews with them. They were raised in a unique time, with its own challenges, so they have beliefs and ideals that will cause a shift in ideology over time.
Who could have predicted we would be where we are now one year ago? The world is moving fast, and we have been asked to adapt so quickly to so many changes. Not being tech savvy and not being willing to acclimate to change means you are left in the dust. A new generation is poised to take the reins, but some “elder statesmen” are digging in and seems unwilling to step aside. The world will be different with new leadership, but change may be for the best. It may leave some lasting good.
