7 Reasons Sustainable Giving Changes How Nonprofit Leaders Start the Year
January 1 has a way of sneaking up on nonprofit leaders.
At 12:01 a.m., the calendar flips – and with it, the emotional math resets. No matter how strong December was, no matter how hard your team pushed, many leaders wake up on January 1 with the same familiar feeling: Here we go again.
Back at zero.
Back at the bottom of the mountain.
Back to asking how we’re going to do it all over again this year.
For decades, we’ve accepted this as normal. We’ve planned around it, budgeted for it, even joked about it. January 1 became the worst day of the year not because leaders lack vision or discipline – but because the system we inherited was never designed to carry momentum forward.
But what if January 1 doesn’t have to feel this way?
What if the dread so many leaders feel isn’t a leadership failure, a motivation problem, or a budgeting flaw – but a signal that the model itself is misaligned with how donors live, how generosity works, and how organizations are meant to be sustained?
Over the past year, I’ve become convinced of this: January 1 only feels like a reset when sustainability is missing.
And when sustainable giving is built intentionally, January 1 becomes something else entirely.
7 Reasons Sustainable Giving Changes How Nonprofit Leaders Start the Year
When sustainable giving is built well, January 1 stops feeling like a restart at the bottom of the mountain – and starts feeling like waking up at basecamp, already partway up the climb.
Let’s look at seven reasons building a base of sustainable recurring giving changes how charity leaders step into January.
Reason #1
Recurring donors don’t disappear on January 1 – they stay engaged, keep participating, and continue the story.
The average charity sees 60 to 80 percent of single-gift donors churn each year. That’s at least six out of every ten individuals who give to a charity not giving in the next year. No wonder January 1 can feel like starting from zero. Contrast that with recurring giving, where just 10 to 20 percent of sustainers churn each year.
Reason #2
Sustainable giving aligns with how donors already live; January only feels misaligned when organizations lag behind donor behavior.
Donors live in the subscription economy. Data shows that they are likely already giving to multiple causes on a recurring basis. When we invest in sustainable giving, we are meeting donors where they are. Sustainable giving isn’t asking donors to change their behavior – it’s recognizing that they already have.
Reason #3
Sustainable giving empowers leaders to steward long-term donor relationships instead of constantly chasing the next gift.
One of the biggest shifts from single-gift fundraising is that we can truly focus on stewardship and long term relationship with donors, rather than the next ask. Sustainable giving frees us to invest in the donor relationship rather than being forced to constantly solicit the next gift. This shift changes not just fundraising strategy, but how leaders think about trust, partnership, and long-term impact.
Reason #4
Sustainable giving replaces volatility with continuity, turning fundraising from an annual scramble into an ongoing discipline.
So much of fundraising has been about moving from campaign to campaign. We go from effort to effort, tossing out what we did before and starting over – when one campaign ends, the next campaign begins. Over time, this cycle doesn’t just drain teams – it limits what organizations believe is possible. Sustainable giving, on the other hand, enables continuity.
Reason #5
Systems built for compounding don’t reset with the calendar – they carry momentum forward over time.
Compounding is quiet at first, but powerful over time. When recurring giving is built intentionally, each year’s growth stacks on top of what came before it rather than being erased on January 1. The result is that progress accumulates – and leaders start each year higher up the mountain than where they finished the last one.
Reason #6
Leaders with sustainable revenue lead differently in January, planning with clarity instead of reacting in panic.
When a portion of the year’s revenue is already committed, January becomes a planning season rather than a crisis moment. Leaders can set priorities, invest strategically, and make decisions based on direction – not desperation. Sustainable revenue creates the breathing room that good leadership requires.
Reason #7
The cost of change is lower than the cost of restarting every year – and January dread is the hidden tax of staying in the old system.
Building sustainable giving requires focus, discipline, and patience – but so does restarting fundraising from scratch every single year. The difference is that one path compounds while the other simply repeats. Over time, January dread becomes the price organizations pay for staying with a model that was never designed to sustain them, or their donors.
💡 Takeaway: January 1 only feels like restarting at the bottom of the mountain when nothing has been built to last. When sustainable giving is built intentionally, momentum carries forward, leadership changes, and the calendar loses its power to reset everything.
It’s one thing to talk about sustainable giving in the abstract – it’s another to see how it changes the lived experience of a leader when the calendar turns.
Over the past year, I’ve had the opportunity to walk alongside many organizations building sustainable giving – but one story, in particular, captures what all seven of these shifts look like in real life.
What This Looks Like in Real Life – Eddie’s Story
Meet Eddie. He’s the Executive Director of TCU Wesley Foundation, a chapter-based college organization working with young adults.
Almost exactly one year ago, Eddie was sitting in the audience when we premiered The Rise of Sustainable Giving.
Like many leaders, he was energized by the possibilities – but also realistic about his starting point. At the time, there was no real sustainable giving program in place. No named community. Just a small base of recurring donors and a sense that there had to be a better way than starting from scratch every year.
This past summer, we began working together.
What Eddie and his team did next wasn’t flashy – but it was disciplined. They dialed in the donation experience. Cleaned up the CRM and reporting so he could actually see what was happening. Began featuring monthly giving intentionally instead of treating it as an afterthought. And, most importantly, he committed to building sustainable giving as a system – not a campaign.
The results didn’t come overnight. But they did come.
We met and strategized twice a month.
Eddie and his team did the work.
First, the small recurring base doubled.
Then it tripled.
Eventually, what had once been an idea became a real program—clear, visible, and growing.
But the most important shift wasn’t just in the numbers.
Earlier this month, Eddie told me that because of the generosity of donors stepping into ongoing support, they’re starting this year with roughly a quarter of the donor-funded portion of their annual budget already covered through recurring giving.
That changes everything.
This January didn’t feel like a reset.
It felt like waking up at basecamp – already partway up the mountain.
And for the first time, Eddie is looking ahead with a solid base of funding to build on, and confidence about what’s possible.
When I asked Eddie what it felt like to begin the year with nearly a quarter of donor funding already secured, his response was simple but telling:
“Creating our budget for the year was exciting, because we knew our starting place was solid.”
Instead of January feeling like a reset to zero, recurring giving has given TCU Wesley a foundation — and a very different kind of confidence — heading into the year.
As we reflected on the past year of moving from hope to results, Eddie continued:
“This whole process has been a joy for me. What I appreciate from the get go back when I first heard your talk was just how practical it was. Here’s what you can do, versus here’s what you might consider, or what other people are doing. I just love that, and it’s what has worked so well. Even as we meet every other week, it’s clear ‘Okay, let’s work on this. Now, this is the next thing.’ And even when it’s a challenge, I don’t mind it, because I know what we’re doing. It’s been great.”
Eddie and his team have put in the work. They just launched a named sustainer program at year end, called The Home:
“Young people are looking for belonging – and they find it at Wesley. Your monthly giving makes that possible as you open the door and make room for students. This is The Home. And it’s hosted by you.”
I’m proud of Eddie and his team. Belief precedes growth, and Eddie is living proof that January 1 doesn’t have to be the worst day of the year for fundraisers.
Sustainable Giving is for You
What Eddie experienced this year isn’t unique.
It’s what happens when sustainable giving moves from theory to practice — when leaders stop treating January like a starting gun and start treating it like a strategic moment.
And it’s why I wrote The Rise of Sustainable Giving in the first place.
Not to promote a tactic.
Not to chase a trend.
But to help leaders like Eddie see a different future — and then build toward it, step by step.
Over the past year, I’ve had the privilege of watching that message take root across hundreds of organizations. Some are just beginning. Others are further along. But the pattern is consistent:
When sustainable giving becomes a holistic program — not a campaign — everything changes.
Announcing the Audio Edition of The Rise of Sustainable Giving
It’s hard to believe we’re coming up on ONE YEAR since the release of The Rise of Sustainable Giving.
Since then, I’ve been humbled—and honestly blown away—by the response. More than 20,000 nonprofit leaders have been exposed to the message of sustainable giving through the book, podcast conversations, workshops, and advisory work. What started as a conversation has grown into something that feels much bigger: a shared recognition that sustainable giving is more accessible to more charities than at any time in history, and a better way forward is possible.
That’s why I’m excited to share that the audiobook edition of The Rise of Sustainable Giving is now available for pre-order, with an official release date of February 3—exactly one year after the print edition launched.
If you’ve been meaning to read the book…
If January has ever felt like a reset button you didn’t ask for…
Or if you prefer to learn by listening – while walking, commuting, or thinking through what’s next for your organization… The audiobook was created for you.
Eddie’s story is just one example of what’s possible when leaders commit to building something that lasts. And if this past year has taught me anything, it’s that sustainable giving isn’t just a strategy—it’s becoming a movement.
You can pre-order the audiobook now on:
At launch, the audio edition will also be available on other major audiobook platforms.
Thank you for being part of this journey—and for helping lead the sector into what’s possible next.
💡 Takeaway: Sustainable giving isn’t just something leaders are learning about—it’s something they’re choosing to build. One year in, what’s become clear is that this isn’t a niche strategy or a passing idea, but a shared shift in how nonprofits think about generosity, leadership, and what it takes to create sustainability
January 1 will always arrive. The question is whether it greets you at the bottom of the mountain – or further up the climb. Sustainable giving doesn’t remove the work of leadership, but it changes where you begin and what’s possible when you do.
Until next week… Surf’s Up! 🌊
- Dave