Before the digital era, offline fundraising relied on the donor pyramid construct. Nonprofits thrived on deeply personal, community-driven interactions, fostering connections through storytelling, empathy, and shared purpose.

In this new era of fundraising, community-led efforts will empower fundraisers to support their chosen charities in diverse ways, rallying their communities to join them.

Classy was at the forefront of this market disruption as the emergence of online giving allowed nonprofits to scale their reach and engage vastly more people much more efficiently, ushering in the donor vortex model. Organizations need innovative ways to infuse personalization and meaningful engagement into their online strategies to harness its power.

We’re eager to continue the conversation about where we’re going, all in the direction of the empowered donor.

The Donor Pyramid vs. Donor Vortex Model

The History and Current Challenges of the Donor Pyramid

The concept of the donor pyramid represents a hierarchy of supporters based on their level of engagement. The pyramid has tiers, with a broad base of donors at the bottom and major donors or investors at the top.

The goal is to move donors up the pyramid through cultivation and stewardship, with the expectation they will increase their support over time. Unfortunately, this model only looked at donors on a single dimension, limiting how nonprofits engaged them and how they can engage with nonprofits. Only a few supporters ever made it to the top as a result.

Before nonprofits had access to today’s digital tools and expansive datasets, donors had to engage with a nonprofit on several occasions before the organization could really get to know them. Unable to tailor the giving experience to each donor from the start, supporters often didn’t feel uniquely valuable or might have found the donation process too complicated, resulting in stagnation or attrition.

Or worse yet, a small initial donation failed to spark meaningful conversation or prompt compelling engagement opportunities, resulting in a missed chance for connection.

This approach leaned towards passivity. Donors’ behaviors, preferences, and choices were shaped by their experiences and engagement with the organization. However, within the vortex, we harness data to disrupt this passive paradigm, transforming it into a proactive one.

The Emergence and Ongoing Opportunities of the Donor Vortex

Today, nonprofits can invite donors on a more personal journey from the start, allowing for the cultivation of stronger, longer-lasting relationships.

Claire Axelrod’s introduction of the term ‘donor vortex’ in 2013 underscored the significance of adaptability and responsiveness throughout the entire donation process. She emphasized the need for personalized and dynamic engagement strategies to cultivate deeper connections.

“[The donor vortex is] a fundraising model fueled not by singular transactions, but by transformative interactions that lead to deep, lasting relationships!” - Claire Axelrod

Since its introduction, the sector has embraced the principles of the donor vortex, where success lies in delivering hyperpersonalized and compelling donation experiences.

That said, I’m not suggesting you do more with less. I encourage you to seek the tools that are built to mobilize these experiences at scale.

The launch of our latest platform evolution, Classy Studio, directly responds to today’s nonprofits’ emerging needs and demands. Studio embodies a truly dynamic framework, helping to bring your story and brand to life without sacrificing personalization, respecting and serving supporters’ individuality.

Capitalizing on Digital Innovation to Foster More Meaningful Giving Experiences

By embracing modern technology, organizations can enhance donors’ giving journeys, instilling a profound sense of purpose and fulfillment. Here are two places to start.

Leverage Intelligence to Build Tailored Donation Pathways

Analytics and zero-, first-, and third-party data enable organizations to personalize interactions, pinpoint preferred giving channels, and tailor engagement strategies. This deep understanding of donor preferences enhances the effectiveness and precision of fundraising efforts.

Intelligence is also critical to connecting your vision to donors’ cases for support. While your campaign’s purpose is significant, donors need to feel personally motivated to turn their intentions into tangible impact. Identifying their reasons for involvement is essential for sustaining engagement.

Our tools at Classy and GoFundMe support digitally native engagements that provide data to drive customized experiences.

With a giving community of over 150 million people, collectively funding $30 billion to impactful causes worldwide, and access to the world’s most expansive online fundraising dataset, we are working to understand how insights informed by the full Classy and GoFundMe community can help drive more giving.

Disrupt the Traditional Journey to Deliver Tangible Donor Value

When nonprofits leverage their available zero-, first-, and for-purchase third-party data to derive actionable insights, they can create meaningful experiences that captivate supporters’ interest from the first interaction.

This approach often leads to faster second gifts or recurring donations, helps identify individuals aligned with the organization’s mission, and enables more effective fundraising by understanding donors’ motivations and the causes they care about.

Embrace the Era of Empowered Fundraisers

As we think about the future of crowdfunding, peer-to-peer, and events, Classy and GoFundMe will continue helping nonprofits connect their communities with highly personalized, high-converting experiences while empowering them to fundraise with tools built for current and future generations.

In this new era of fundraising, community-led, community-driven fundraising will embrace an empowered fundraiser model where donors will be equipped and able to fundraise on behalf of their charities of choice in various ways and bring their communities with them.

Together, Classy and GoFundMe will sit at the center of that shift, building connected communities that will help nonprofits, their supporters, and the communities they serve thrive and make fundraising more personal again.