A Note from the Author
“You never change things by fighting against the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the old model obsolete.” — Buckminster Fuller
A manifesto is a public declaration of views and intentions. It’s a simple articulation of what one believes and a vision of the world that one wishes to create.
The Sustainable Giving Manifesto is intended as a declaration of the future of sustainable giving. A recognition that sustainability in fundraising is a fundamental right that is available to all nonprofits.
No longer are the vast majority of charities left behind. This declaration both describes what is the reality today AND casts a vision for what will be in the future – an IMAGO for the new ERA of sustainable giving.
The word “imago” comes from Latin. It’s a word picture that describes a future that will be but has not yet come to pass. An imago is literally the image of the final form of a thing. It’s the last stage of maturity. A metamorphosis. The ultimate shape. If you and I saw a butterfly flying by, we would say, “There goes an imago!” 🦋
At The Center for Sustainable Giving, we help leaders see their imago – and imagine a future that will be, but does not yet exist.
This manifesto is an imago itself—it’s not yet finished. I need your help. Not just to refine the ideas, but to bring them to life. This will take many leaders working together across nonprofits, providers, and platforms to shape and build this new era of sustainable giving. This manifesto is only as meaningful as the people who choose to carry it forward. I’m glad you are here for the journey.
If you’d like to stay connected and follow along as this work continues to unfold, I’d invite you to join us at SustainableGiving.org/insights.
Blessings,
Dave
What Is True
Our Shared Reality
January 1st is the worst day of the year for most nonprofits.
At 12:01 a.m., the fundraising meter resets. No matter how hard teams worked to finish the year strong—no matter how effective or exhausting December was—organizations wake up on January 1st back at the bottom of the mountain, forced to begin the climb all over again.
For some, it’s not January 1 but the first month of their fiscal year. But the principle—and the sinking feeling—are the same.
This cycle is so familiar that it rarely gets questioned. We plan for it. We budget around it. We brace ourselves for it. And year after year, we accept it as the cost of how things are.
But it comes at a price.
The constant pressure to restart fundraising every year shapes how organizations think, act, and lead. It rewards short-term wins over long-term health. It normalizes exhaustion. And it quietly limits what is possible—for leaders, for teams, for donors, and for the missions we serve.
This is not a failure of effort.
It is a consequence of the system we are operating within.
The System We’ve Inherited
The Status Quo
In the United States, we live in a single-gift-centric fundraising paradigm.
It is the air we breathe. The water we swim in—so familiar that we rarely stop to question it.
Success is measured by how many donors we acquire and how much revenue we raise—usually within narrow windows of time.
We chase the calendar.
We manufacture moments.
We learn to live with volatility as if it were normal.
And then we do it all again.
Within this system, recurring giving is rarely given the consideration, emphasis, and depth of attention it deserves.
At best, it is treated as a bolt-on—a tactic added to an already crowded calendar. A January direct mail piece. A brief mention in an email.
An ask during the slowest fundraising times of the year, hoping donors will make one of the most significant commitments at the least likely moment.
More often, recurring giving is treated as a checkbox—an optional gift type buried on a donation form. Something donors might choose if they are especially committed. An “upgrade” from what is assumed to be the default: a single gift.
At worst, recurring giving is ignored altogether. Many organizations assume it is not for them. Not realistic. Not accessible. Not worth the investment.
This is not because leaders lack care or competence.
It is because the system we inherited was never designed to prioritize sustainability.
The current system rewards churn. Volume. Dollars and donors.
The Missed Potential
What We’ve Overlooked
And yet, sustainable recurring giving is not new.
For centuries, organizations built around membership, shared identity, and long-term commitment have quietly funded their missions through ongoing support. One-to-one sponsorship models, faith communities, mutual aid societies, and membership-based movements have relied on sustained generosity to endure and grow.
These models have raised untold amounts of stable, mission-aligned funding.
But for the vast majority of nonprofits historically, these funding models were out of their reach. They didn’t have the programs, infrastructure, or model to tap into recurring giving. Most donors weren’t willing to give on a recurring basis to these charities.
They were left behind.
Until now.
What has been overlooked is not the effectiveness of recurring giving—but its availability to more charities.
What once required specific types of charity models, structures, and contexts is no longer confined to them. The conditions that limited recurring giving in the past are changing.
What was once rare is becoming accessible. What was once out of reach is moving within grasp.
And what was once reserved for a few is now possible for many.
The Inflection Point
Why Now Is The Time
Today, the context has changed.
The rise of the subscription economy has fundamentally reshaped how people relate to ongoing value and recurring commitments.
What once felt unusual now feels normal. From entertainment to services to everyday essentials, recurring relationships are no longer an exception—they are the expectation.
This shift has quietly changed donor behavior as well.
More people are giving to more organizations on a recurring basis than at any other point in history. Every major study of fundraising over the past several years points to the same bright spot: recurring giving is growing.
This is not a trend on the margins. The convergence of the subscription economy, evolving donor expectations, and increasing comfort with recurring commitments represents a generational opportunity—estimated to be worth an additional $10 to $20 billion annually in the United States alone
Over the next decade, that could mean $100 to $200 billion in additional generosity directed toward causes that matter.
The question is no longer whether sustainable giving is possible.
The question is whether organizations will recognize this moment for what it is—and lead accordingly.
A New Era of Sustainable Giving
The Manifesto
We are entering a new era of giving.
Not because generosity is new—but because the conditions that shape how generosity is expressed have changed.
For decades, nonprofits have been built around a system that prioritizes episodic transactions over sustained relationships. That system produced impact, but it also produced fragility—requiring organizations to repeatedly re-start, re-acquire, re-ask, and re-build funding, year after year.
Today, that model is no longer sufficient.
The rise of recurring relationships across nearly every sector of society has changed what people expect, how they engage, and how they commit. Donors are no longer limited by habit or technology to one-time expressions of support. They are ready—and often eager—to participate in causes they care about on an ongoing basis.
This moment demands more than new tactics.
It demands new thinking.
New structures.
New measures of success.
And new beliefs about what is possible.
Sustainable giving is not a trend to chase or a tactic to test. It is a fundamental shift in how organizations fund their missions, relate to donors, and build for the future.
What follows is not a set of suggestions or best practices.
It is a declaration of what we hold to be true about sustainable giving in this era—and what it will require of those who choose to lead.
The Seven Declarations of Sustainable Giving
In this new era, we declare the following to be true about sustainable giving:
Sustainable giving is for every organization willing to build for it – not just a select few.
Single-gift fundraising and sustainable giving are fundamentally different disciplines – and must be led differently.
Donors are not transactions; they are partners in ongoing impact – and sustainable giving should be good for them and for society.
The generosity crisis is real – and sustainable giving is one of the most powerful responses available.
Sustainable giving compounds – what is built with intention today creates disproportionate impact tomorrow.
Sustainable giving is a leadership and change-management challenge, not a campaign problem.
Belief precedes growth – organizations will never build sustainable giving until they believe it is possible and worth the work.
The Lies That Keep Us Stuck
If these truths are so compelling, why has sustainable giving remained underdeveloped for so long?
Because a set of familiar stories—often well-intentioned—continue to shape how organizations think and act.
We tell ourselves that recurring giving is simply a nicer version of single-gift fundraising.
That the same tactics will work, if we just try a little harder.
We tell ourselves that sustainable giving will grow on its own—that donor behavior will change regardless of what we do.
We tell ourselves that if it hasn’t worked after one campaign, one appeal, or one email series, then it must not be for us.
We tell ourselves that recurring giving is everyone’s responsibility—when in reality, that usually means it is no one’s responsibility.
We tell ourselves that we have a strategy because we have a button on the website and a checkbox on a donation form.
We tell ourselves that we’ve reached our ceiling—that because a certain percentage of our revenue is recurring, there must not be much room left to grow.
These stories are understandable. They are inherited. They are reinforced by systems, incentives, and habits built over decades.
But they are not harmless.
They keep organizations operating below their potential.
They mask what is possible.
And they allow us to confuse activity with progress.
The truth is harder—but more hopeful.
Sustainable giving is not a tactic.
It is not automatic.
And it does not emerge accidentally.
It must be built—intentionally, patiently, and differently.
The Opportunity We Face
And The Price of Change
We are standing at a rare inflection point.
For the first time, the conditions are aligned for sustainable giving to move from the margins to the center of nonprofit funding—not for a few organizations, but for the sector as a whole.
The normalization of subscriptions has reshaped how people relate to ongoing value. Recurring commitments are no longer unusual—they are expected. And more donors are more comfortable participating in causes they care about on an ongoing basis than at any point in history.
The result is not incremental upside.
Over the next decade, the convergence of changing donor behavior, the subscription economy, and intentional leadership represents $100 to $200 billion of additional generosity—resources that could stabilize organizations, deepen impact, and fundamentally reshape the sector.
But the opportunity is not only financial.
Organizations that build sustainable giving well gain:
Stability instead of volatility.
Loyalty instead of churn.
Clarity instead of constant urgency.
Freedom to plan instead of perpetual reaction.
And leaders who engage in this work don’t just grow revenue—they grow capacity.
They are forced to think longer-term.
To learn new disciplines.
To lead change instead of managing noise.
This is an opportunity for sector-wide transformation. For renewed generosity in a culture that desperately needs it. For organizations to become more resilient. And for leaders to grow into the work their missions require.
But opportunity does not come without cost. Opportunities of this magnitude are never easy.
This work will require learning what we do not yet know.
It will require discipline where we have relied on habit.
It will require investment before results are guaranteed.
It will require patience, persistence, and the willingness to fail forward.
We do not pursue sustainable giving because it is simple or convenient.
We pursue it because it organizes and focuses the best of our leadership.
Because it forces us to build for the long term.
And because the cost of change—while real—is far less than the cost of standing still.
This is the price of transformation.
And it is a price worth paying.
Sustainable Generosity
The Bigger Story
Sustainable giving is not the destination.
It is one powerful expression of something larger.
Generosity is not merely transactional. It is formative. It shapes identity, community, and culture. And it shows up in far more ways than financial contributions alone.
Time.
Talent.
Trust.
Ties.
Testimony.
Wisdom.
Sustainable giving lives within a broader ecosystem of generosity. It is one of the most accessible and scalable ways organizations can invite people into ongoing participation—but it is not the only one.
Seen this way, sustainable giving does not narrow generosity.
It expands it.
And as the future unfolds, new expressions of sustainable generosity will emerge—forms we cannot yet fully imagine.
Organizations that learn to lead sustainable giving today are not simply preparing for recurring revenue. They are developing the leadership capacity required to steward generosity—whatever shape it takes next.
You Get To Choose
Lead Into What’s Possible
Now this becomes about you.
Sustainable giving is for you—but you have to choose.
No strategy matters without belief.
No investment follows without conviction.
Belief precedes growth.
The opportunity is real.
The path is visible.
The resources are available.
And still, many organizations will not make this transition.
Not because sustainable giving is inaccessible.
Not because it is reserved for a select few.
But because change demands leadership—and leadership has a cost.
The future will not be decided by consensus.
It will be shaped by leaders willing to question assumptions, invest intentionally, and build for the long term.
Sustainable giving is possible.
It is proven.
And it is powerful.
The question is not whether it works.
The question is whether you will believe it—and lead into what is possible.
If this resonates with you, we invite you to stay close.
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