JUST RELEASED: 2025 New Donor Study Results 

Why Finding New Donors Matters More Than Ever 

By Jared Matthews 

Strategy and Research Manager, BBS & Associates 

Acquiring new donors is always a big deal for nonprofits — but it’s not cheap. While it costs about 20 cents to raise a dollar from someone who’s already given to your organization, getting that same dollar from a brand-new donor can cost up to $1.50. 

And with fewer Americans donating overall (down 5.3% nationally in late 2024) and fewer sticking around (retention dropped 4.6%), finding new supporters is more important than ever. 

In your search for new donors, information is power — helping you maximize your acquisition dollars and grow your base efficiently! 

This is why BBS & Associates teamed up with Grey Matter Research to dig into what makes Christian donors say “yes” to a new charity or ministry. We studied 602 people who are already donors and open to giving to organizations they’ve never supported before — some already have in the past year. 

Want to know what makes these donors tick?  

Here are some key findings from our latest study: 

• Among Christian donors, 78% would consider supporting a new (to them) organization this year. But only 59% have actually done so in the past 12 months.

• New donors were almost equally split among head (giving when they see an important need — 29%), heart (giving when something touches their heart — 23%), calendar (giving on a scheduled basis — 24%), and wallet (giving when they have extra money — 24%). 

• On average, giving outside of church is split between faith-based organizations (47%) and non-faith-based organizations (53%). Only 6% gave exclusively to faith-based ministries. Even among people with high levels of spiritual engagement, an average of 37% of their donor dollars still went to secular charities. 

• Resistance — meaning new donors say they would be unlikely to consider giving toward that cause — is highest for overtly religious causes: domestic evangelism (42%), Christian media (38%), international missions (26%), and Christian teaching/preaching/discipleship (23%).  

• 1. 1. However, the data showed that Christian new donors are actually not resistant to supporting Christian causes. 48% had given in the last 12 months to at least one of these causes, with only 9% being resistant to supporting all four. 
     2. Interestingly, Protestant data compared to Catholic data was especially different regarding domestic evangelism and Christian teaching/preaching/discipleship: 59% of Catholic donors were resistant to the former cause (whereas only 34% of Protestants were), and 32% of Catholics were resistant to the latter (and only 19% of Protestants were).

• 64% admit they prefer to support organizations they already know. Just 36% actually like to discover new organizations they might support. This was especially true of older donors.

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  New donors are equally split between tending to trust new organizations until they learn a reason they shouldn’t (51%) and not trusting them until they investigate the organization carefully (49%). 

• Out of 17 potential decision influences we tested, the four most important to new donors all have to do with credibility and trust. 

You’ll discover more in our full report … including additional relevant findings and our recommendations as you move forward.  

[Download Now] 

As always, our team is here to help you succeed in every way possible!