Philanthropy is evolving. Stay agile. Stay ahead.
By Bianca Derouene, CEO
Everything these days feels loud, urgent, unjust, and even existential. We are living through a polycrisis—with simultaneous threats to our political system, economy, social fabric, safety, and environment. I’m struggling to keep up, let alone know what to do.
Perhaps the only thing that feels clear to me is that we can’t go back.
It’s true; I am mourning all we have lost. I’m mourning the loss of life-saving humanitarian programs, global collaborations, and community organizations. I’m mourning the scientific breakthroughs we’ll miss out on. I’m mourning the destruction of our natural world. I’m mourning the dismantling of trusted institutions, information sources, and data.
But I don’t think our task as changemakers is to maintain a list of what is broken so that we can fix it on the other side. Partly because who knows what ‘the other side’ looks like, but mostly because, if we’re honest with ourselves, much of what we lost was an imperfect solution to begin with.
Our job now is to shift our energy from restoration of what was toward realization of what could be. My hope for our sector is that 2026 is our year of courage—courage to dream, to redefine the ‘art of the possible’, to pursue the real solutions, and to secure the transformational investment this work demands.
What we’ll need is tremendous agility.
Agility begins with clarity of purpose. Leaders and organizations that focus on their unwavering ‘north stars’ move forward effectively, even if ‘curveballs’ come their way. They can adapt to emerging realities because their approach is not defined by what they do, but by why they do it.
In the coming year, our Aperio team will explore what that agility looks like in practice. We’ll challenge the mindset that now is our sector’s time to ‘do more with less’ and offer ways to ‘achieve more impact with more intentionality’. We’ll share ways to find—even create—the resources you need for the most aspirational version of your vision and mission.
Agility through insight: Learn about the evolving landscape and opportunities
Agility begins with curiosity. When we stay open to learning—even when doing so entails processing upsetting news, wrestling with uncomfortable truths, or challenging our own assumptions—we can begin to anticipate emerging challenges and opportunities. With more lead time, we can adapt our strategies more thoughtfully and proactively.
Absolutely, staying informed about everything happening in the world is draining—and impossible. But the alternative doesn’t have to be burying our heads in the sand. Rather than allow any/all information in, we can choose some focus areas where we want to get extra curious. For nonprofit leaders and fundraisers, we suggest exploring:
What are the most pressing needs in your community? What are the root causes of those needs?
What proven, promising, and/or aspirational solutions are emerging?
What conversations are opening up about the role of nonprofits and civil society in leading those solutions?
Where is collaboration happening, and what are the possibilities that it creates?
How are private donors—foundations, companies, and especially individuals—thinking about their new role in our sector, with the decline in federal funding? What about state and local governments?
Where might self-limiting beliefs or historical assumptions be getting in our way? Who’s challenging them, and what can we learn from them?
How is our sector adapting to shifts in giving decisions toward women and next-gen donors? How could/should we be?
How are we preparing for the Great Wealth Transfer? How could/should we be?
Once you choose where to focus, learn with intention. Learn from experts. Learn from other leaders and fundraisers. Learn from donors. Learn from what’s happening on the ground.
Explore with openness, without feeling like every insight means action. It is not in your best interest—or your community’s best interest—to chase every idea or to respond to every crisis. Rather, use the insights you gather to ask yourself continually: What challenges and opportunities can I imagine? How can we get in front of them?
Agility through connection: Practice relationship-based fundraising
The organizations that remain most agile are those that lean into relationships—with partners, peers, community members, volunteers, and donors. Relationships provide valuable connections, creative solutions, and an expanded ‘art of the possible’ for impact.
From a fundraising perspective, relationship-based fundraising continues to be the only path to dynamic revenue growth and resiliency. When we build real, values-aligned relationships with a broad and diverse coalition of supporters, we can trust that we will have partners and investors in our mission—no matter what comes our way.
Focusing on relationships frees us from the churn of constant donor acquisition. By engaging our donors in our mission continually, we create opportunities to grow together. As leaders and fundraisers, we get to invest our precious time, energy, and resources to highest and best use. And, we see our organizations shift from scraping together dollars each year toward bold multiyear revenue strategies—that are both increasingly predictable and scalable.
Agility through technology: Work smarter, not harder
Technology offers exciting opportunities to nonprofits. At the same time, evolutions in AI have accelerated the proliferation of tools available to support nonprofits and fundraising. We all know we need to leverage technology—espcially AI—but where to start?
We have to start by acknowledging that it is not possible to fundraise effectively without technology. If you are a fundraiser and you are not using your CRM all day every day to ‘plan the work and work the plan’, you are leaving dollars on the table for your mission. If you are a nonprofit leader who is not reviewing pipeline, activity, and retention data weekly to inform agile team management, you are leaving dollars on the table for your mission.
That said, effective use of technology is not defined by which tools or how many. Often, leveraging a small, well-chosen set of platforms creates more opportunity than racking up subscriptions that your team can put to work. Technology without strategy, business rules, and outcomes-driven usage wastes time and resources—and costs you opportunities.
Agility through community: Spend time with fundraisers who care
Nonprofit leadership and fundraising can be lonely at the best of times. These days, there’s so much to process, learn, try, and create. We cannot do it alone.
If the barrage of urgency is making you feel isolated, misaligned, or even hopeless, remember that in this community, you are not alone.
There are fundraisers, donors, and volunteers who understand what you are navigating and who stand alongside you. Many share the same pressures, uncertainties, and moments of doubt. Staying agile—and avoiding burnout—requires tapping into these networks frequently and proactively. Community exists beyond job titles and organizational charts. It lives in shared experiences, peer connection, and honest conversation.
In a moment that encourages disconnection, choosing community is an act of resilience—and a reminder that this work is sustained not just by resources, but by one another.
Agility is not about moving faster or doing more—it is about moving with intention toward a clear purpose. That purpose cannot simply be restoring what we’ve lost but needs to be about reimagining what can be—and moving us there. As our world evolves—and philanthropy with it—we have a generational opportunity to lead change. Insights, relationships, technology, and connection can help.