The last two years have seen charities learn, adapt and re-evaluate how they engage with their audiences and although 2023 looks to be less turbulent than the last two years (touch wood…), non-profit organisations are still facing challenges that will put that learning and resilience to the test.

With the spike in the number of individual givers now plateauing, now is the time to focus on telling your stories and continuing to showcase your impact so you keep their attention. Advances in technology are expanding opportunities for charities to creatively connect with audiences, offering more ways for individuals and businesses to give and allowing fundraising teams to retain donors through closer relationships online.

Here are just some of the things we’ll see more of in 2023…

As the cost-of-living crisis brings more uncertainty, research by PayPoint suggests that 64% of people who regularly donate to charity would welcome the flexibility to change the amount they donate and when, rather than committing to a fixed monthly amount. The worry is that when times are tough, people may turn off their donations entirely and it is much harder to re-engage these people again after that happens. By making it easy for donors to flex their donation amount up or down, you can continue to have them as part of your community while still acknowledging that their financial situation might not be as stable as it once was.

It’s more important than ever to regularly communicate with your community, on social media, via email or in person, to show that you still value their support.

We might just be getting back to in person networking again, but the possibilities for fundraising in the metaverse are just becoming apparent. With the metaverse being such a new concept, the limits are really just your imagination. Charities could set up virtual networking events to connect with potential donors, in the Metaverse there is no reason why these have to be held in a hotel or a conference centre – why not hold your event on a virtual hospital ward where attendees can see what their donations fund, take them overseas to swim with turtles and see your conservation projects in action or allow them to explore your space and hear real stories from the people you support. You no longer have to be limited by what is possible IRL.

There are over 46 million gamers in the UK and the rise in people recording themselves playing and streaming online gives charities an opportunity to engage with the gaming community. Charities including Sightsavers, Teenage Cancer Trust and MIND have all launched campaigns to encourage people to ‘play it forward’ and raise money online. If you don’t know your OBS from your Overlay or your Twitch from your ticker, this handy jargon buster from Just Giving lets you know how to talk the talk and get into the world of gaming.

While it still might seem like a dark art, put simply NFTs (or Non-Fungible Tokens) are unique tokens that are attached to a specific digital asset (that doesn’t have to just be an image; it could be a song or an animation). Ownership of this asset is logged and authenticated using decentralised blockchain technology – usually the cryptocurrency Etherium.

To get started with NFTs, your charity will need to be set up to receive cryptocurrency and you should take time to understand the due diligence around accepting these kind of donations. Tech Soup has a handy breakdown of the different ways you could approach using NFTs to fundraise, as well as a glossary to demystify the terminology.

Corporate partnerships are nothing new but as hybrid working becomes the norm, businesses are looking for new ways to form real connections within teams and companywide charitable giving experiences are a great way of building morale. With ‘quiet quitting’ and the great resignation still making headlines, research shows that employee satisfaction goes up if businesses can show that they care about their team’s charitable interests. Spend time getting to know the businesses in your area and focus on honing your messaging so they can see where your values align.