How Are Charities Faring With Digital in 2026? Results from the Nick Burne Digital Survey

By Danni Adam

At Nick Burne Digital, we surveyed our charity clients and network in the spring of 2026, to learn how digital fundraising is performing for them now, in the current challenging landscape. We got highly interesting responses, from charities working across a range of causes and markets, and have gathered the findings for you in this article. .

Digital fundraising in 2026 feels tougher than ever. Platforms evolve fast, costs remain high, and teams face new hurdles from AI-driven ad systems, stricter tracking, and growing creative demands. Despite this, and 44% of respondents reporting slight drops in performance, most charities still plan to increase digital acquisition investment in the next year.

Reliance on Meta

Most charities remain heavily dependent on Meta for supporter acquisition. On average, 70% of digital acquisition spend goes to Meta and 30% to Google, with few allocating less than half their budget to Meta. Smaller charities are especially Meta‑heavy.

Charity Budget Band | Typical Meta Reliance

• Under £25k | Very Meta‑heavy

• £25k–£100k | More balanced

• £100k–£250k | Still Meta‑led but broader mix

• £500k+ | Multi‑channel

Emerging Diversification

While Meta and Google dominate, some charities are exploring new platforms - TikTok is the most tested newcomer. Within Google, 62% use PMAX for acquisition, though Search still captures the majority of spend.

What’s Working - and What Isn’t

Email still delivers.

• Despite ongoing “email is dead” predictions, it remains one of the best‑performing channels.

• High‑performing charities pair strong retention journeys with effective onboarding.

• Performance issues often stem not from email itself but from poor lead quality.

Lead quality is the major weak spot.

Many report weak conversions, low second‑gift rates, and concerns about supporter value - signs that cheap leads may be hurting long‑term results. Moving from CPL to value‑led optimisation and improving onboarding could help reverse that trend.

Adapting to Meta’s Targeting Shifts

Nearly 78% of charities have moved toward broader targeting due to Meta’s reduced options. Yet over half haven’t adopted Meta’s AI‑generated creative tools, citing quality concerns.

The Creative Bottleneck

The most consistent challenge: creative capacity.

Charities struggle to produce enough assets to feed AI‑driven ad systems, which now reward variety and speed over precise targeting. Limited design resources and testing capacity risk holding many organisations back.

Conclusion

Charities are entering a new era of digital fundraising where creative capability defines performance. As targeting broadens and automation grows, success increasingly depends on the ability to produce strong, diverse creative at scale - something many organisations still lack.