2026 Charity Digital Fundraising Trends - Nick Burne Consulting's Digital Acquisition Specialists
By Danni Adam & Jacob Southgate-Cryer
Digital fundraising is always changing and 2025 was no exception - in fact it feels like one of the most unsettled years yet! Huge changes to the social platforms, the growth of AI, and shifting supporter expectations are all requiring charities to think differently about planning and delivering campaigns.
The Nick Burne Digital team put our heads together to identify the big trends and changes we saw in 2025, and to share our recommendations on how to handle them in 2026
Diversify your ads - but with caution and care
More organisations are looking to diversify their media mix as concerns grow around further Meta restrictions. Plus the increasing number of default features that need switching off in Ads Manager - such as AI “creative enhancements” that cause you to lose control of the look and messaging in your ads.
That said, it’s important not to diversify just for its own sake. Meta still delivers the strongest, most reliable results for most charities, particularly for acquisition at scale. Too much diversification spreads budgets thinly and makes optimisation harder.
Our advice for 2026:
Diversify your ad spend enough to protect against volatility, but keep Meta at the centre of your paid strategy.
2. Quick, lightweight video production is now a core skill
The shift towards video isn’t a prediction anymore - it’s now a practical necessity.
Recent campaigns have shown:
Reels and Stories placements delivering 4 to 5 times more conversions year-on-year for repeat activity
Video increasingly outperforming static creative even in areas where static previously did well
Our advice for 2026:
Charities should build the ability to produce simple, fast-turnaround video in-house, rather than relying solely on agency-style creative.
The days of putting all your resources into one overly-long, highly-polished video are behind us. Iterative video is what works: short snippets with different styles and messaging, to test against each other in your ad campaigns. Tools like Canva and CapCut make this achievable for most teams, and speed of production now matters as much as the content itself.
3. The growing gap - strategic use of AI
A clear divide is emerging - not between countries, but between organisations. Some teams are using AI strategically, to help with automating tasks and testing. Some are using it indiscriminately and turning out low quality content; others are avoiding it entirely.
Those who use AI well can:
Test more quickly
Reduce bottlenecks in campaign production
Our advice for 2026:
Don’t use AI indiscriminately but use it well: adopt AI cautiously and responsibly, with appropriate guardrails, so it supports the work without compromising brand or accuracy.
4. A stronger focus on supporter journeys
There’s a growing shift away from channel-by-channel thinking towards more joined-up programme design. Organisations are placing more emphasis on:
Clearer sequencing and message flow
Stronger integration between acquisition and nurture
Renewed investment in email, which continues to perform particularly well in markets such as Germany
Our advice for 2026:
It’s more important than ever that we design a strong, compelling supporter journey once we get people from ads onto our lists. And having these strong journeys ensures that diversification to new channels doesn’t result in disconnected activity, but instead delivers a coherent supporter experience.
5. Meta’s policy changes require better data foundations
Meta’s updates across the last two years are now having a noticeable impact on campaign strategy:
Pixel functionality is blocked across many European websites categorised under health and wellness
The suspension of political and social-issue advertising limits what some organisations can promote
Ongoing compliance changes make long-term planning more challenging
Our advice for 2026:
Charities using Meta Ads need to improve their approach to first-party data, implement better tracking setups, and develop more balanced channel mixes. If you need support with planning and implementing this, we can help - contact us today for a no-pressure chat.
6. AI continues to dominate - but not everything “AI” is new
Platforms are introducing genuinely new AI features, from personalisation to automated copy suggestions. At the same time, many long-standing optimisation tools are simply being rebranded as “AI”.
Adoption remains uneven. Some charities are experimenting actively; others are still hesitant.
Our advice for 2026:
Focus on the AI tools that genuinely improve workflow and speed up production, rather than feeling the need to use everything labelled “AI”.
Need help with your digital fundraising in 2026?
“The Nick Burne Digital team can work with you to get a winning 2026 strategy in place, bringing our deep experience with digital ads, scaling digital fundraising programmes and diversifying into new channels. Book a call with Nick today and find out how we can help you. ”