Donor generosity hasn’t collapsed. Donor decision-making has changed.

Much of the sector narrative around the cost-of-living crisis still frames donor behaviour as a story of decline.

• Less money.
• More pressure.
• Reduced generosity.

That reading is understandable — but it’s also incomplete.

What has changed most significantly over the past few years is not whether people care, but how they decide.

Supporters have become more deliberate.

They are:
➡️Thinking harder before committing
➡️Reviewing existing donations more actively
➡️Making fewer, more intentional choices

This doesn’t look like generosity disappearing.

It looks like discernment increasing.

For years, many fundraising models relied — implicitly — on frictionless generosity:
👉Low-effort decisions
👉Standing orders that quietly rolled on
👉Emotional prompts that converted quickly

Economic pressure has disrupted that dynamic.

When household finances feel tighter, every outgoing becomes visible.

Donations are no longer background noise — they are conscious expressions of identity and values.

This is why some charities are experiencing:
• Fewer donations, but higher average gifts
• Strong engagement from a smaller supporter base
• Increased questions, scrutiny and comparison

None of this suggests donors care less. It suggests they are choosing more carefully.

The risk for charities is misdiagnosis.

If this shift is interpreted as apathy or fatigue, the response tends to be:
Louder messaging
More urgency
Increased emotional pressure

But if it is understood as a move towards deliberation, the response needs to be very different.

This is not a temporary behavioural blip. It is a structural shift in how supporters relate to giving.

And it requires a fundamentally different kind of fundraising confidence.