Pulse Check

The story of mobile giving isn’t about mobile

It’s about whether donors can complete a gift in the moment they decide to give.

Fundraising benchmarks: Q1 2026 vs. Q1 2025

The Pulse of the Donor is Fundraise Up's annual look at how donor experience and revenue trends are shifting. Throughout the year, the Pulse Check runs quarterly to give the nonprofit sector real-time insights into what trends are improving, declining, or staying stagnant.

We’ll share what it means for your organization, and recommend the strategies you can implement right now to meet the moment. 

This report compares a single quarter to the same quarter a year prior (Q1oQ1), so seasonal variation doesn't distort the data analysis. The goal is to provide nonprofits with real-time data trends throughout the year, not just annually. 

This edition covers Q1 2026 vs. Q1 2025 across 1,000 organizations in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia, representing $150+ million in processed donations.

The frictionless inflection point

A donor’s expectations are set by the experiences people have everywhere. By the time someone reaches your donation form they’ve been impacted by an event in their life or community, moved by your mission, and decided to act. What happens next is about friction.

People are living in a world where digital experiences are decreasing friction at every turn. The amount of friction at the moment a donor decides to donate is determining whether that donation is completed or abandoned. 

For most of giving’s digital history, what happens after the decision to give? You enter your credit number. Type in sixteen digits, an expiration date, CVV, billing, and zip code. And in a majority of cases it’s happening on a mobile device. That’s friction that’s been taxing donor intent for years. 

Q1 2026 suggests digital fundraising is entering a frictionless phase. Donors are increasingly completing gifts through mobile-native payment methods, while credit card share declines across markets. At the same time, channel performance is becoming more specific: mail remains highly productive, social performance varies sharply by platform, and LinkedIn is showing early signs of higher-intent donor behavior in the US. 

For nonprofits, the opportunity is to reduce friction, segment by donor context, and optimize the payment moment where intent becomes revenue.

Key numbers

+15.4%

One-time gift average, US, Q1oQ1

>53%

Mobile donation share in US, UK & Australia

+38%

Apple Pay share of US transactions, Q1oQ1

−11%

Credit card share of US transactions, Q1oQ1

Key insights

The frictionless inflection point
The frictionless inflection point

Donors aren't just moving to mobile. They're moving to payment methods that remove the step of entering card details. The phone is the device. Apple Pay and Google Pay are the mechanisms. Credit card share is declining across all four markets. This is what a better donor experience looks like at scale.

The smaller gift trend paused in Q1 2026
The smaller gift trend paused in Q1 2026

In 2025, the story was more donors giving smaller amounts. Q1 2026 tells a different story. One-time gift averages are up substantially in the US, UK, and Canada. Whether this holds through Q2 will be the real test. The early signal is worth paying attention to.

Social is splintering
Social is splintering

Social isn't one channel. It's several, and they're behaving very differently. LinkedIn and Instagram conversion rates grew substantially in Q1. YouTube declined. UK Facebook surged. Australia's social conversion dropped across the board.

How we built this quarterly report

We analyzed millions of transactions across our global nonprofit network, standardizing currencies to USD, and applying statistical controls to ensure the data was accurate and useful.

Data sources

Anonymized, non-PII transaction data from 1,000+ nonprofit organizations across four countries (United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia) that processed donations through Fundraise Up in 2025.

Geographic coverage

Our primary focus was on the United States (largest sample, clearest behavioral patterns), with comparative context from Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Where patterns were US-specific vs. universal, this was explicitly noted.

Organization inclusion criteria

Organizations were active on the platform for a minimum of 12 months (24 months for YoY metrics), had at least 500 successful donations in the analysis period, had at least 6 months with 5+ donations per month, and had statistical outliers removed.

YoY calculation methodology

For each metric, we calculate organization-level YoY change. Average of these changes reported. High-value donations (>$10,000) were excluded to prevent outlier distortion.

Success in 2026 means aligning your platform with how donors actually give today — mobile-first, social-driven, and commitment-led.

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