Doing good is no longer good enough for nonprofits in 2025

The nonprofit sector’s collective influence touches every aspect of American life, from professional associations to local food banks, from cultural institutions to social services.

Among the 2,300 organizations in our network, around 1,000 focus on fighting poverty, hundreds serve as professional associations and many operate as federated nonprofits with national reach. Each plays a vital role in strengthening our communities, often in ways that remain invisible until you start looking for them.

However, despite billions in philanthropic dollars being disbursed, innovative technology at our fingertips and a workforce passionate about creating change, we’re still not moving fast enough on society’s most pressing issues.

The problem isn’t a lack of resources, dedication or even funding. It’s our mindset.

We’ve accepted a way of operating that prioritizes perceived stability over actual impact. We’ve normalized inefficiency in the name of tradition. And most dangerously, we’ve allowed the term “nonprofit” to become an excuse for avoiding necessary innovation.

The abundance paradox

When markets decline, something counterintuitive happens: Philanthropic giving typically increases. The Giving Institute’s latest State of Philanthropy report reveals that charitable giving in the U.S. reached $557 billion in 2023. Yet many nonprofits operate from a scarcity mindset, competing for resources rather than collaborating for impact.

Consider this reality: In many urban areas, multiple organizations provide identical services within blocks of each other, each struggling with staffing shortages, and each competing for the same funding sources. This isn’t dedication to the cause — it’s devotion to inefficiency.

What if, instead of three separate food banks struggling independently, they combined operations and shared resources? What if, rather than viewing other organizations as competition, we saw them as potential multipliers where one plus one could equal 10?

Organizations that embrace abundance thinking are discovering untapped opportunities. Take one of our poverty-fighting clients in D.C. — through strategic partnerships with similar organizations, they’ve expanded their reach without expanding their overhead. By sharing resources and coordinating service delivery, they’re serving more people more effectively than ever before.

Breaking free from the operating system

The most innovative organizations are already challenging traditional models, starting with the workweek itself. Several large nonprofits have successfully transitioned to four-day workweeks, reporting improved staff retention and increased productivity.

Others are completely reimagining their operational structure. Instead of struggling to hire and retain specialized staff in a competitive market, they’re outsourcing entire departments — finance, HR, IT — to expert partners. This shift challenges the long-held belief that everything must be done in-house to maintain mission integrity. One human services organization reduced its administrative overhead by 30% through strategic outsourcing, redirecting those savings directly to program delivery.

The technology revolution offers even more opportunities for transformation. When a case manager spends hours logging client notes instead of working directly with people in need, that’s not dedication — it’s a failure of imagination. Forward-thinking organizations are using AI to handle these administrative tasks, cutting documentation time in half. One organization is using AI-powered tools to transcribe and summarize client interactions automatically, freeing up case managers to spend more time in the field where they’re needed most.

The next wave of social impact

While we’re solving yesterday’s operational challenges, we’re missing emerging needs that could define 2025 and beyond.

The way we communicate our impact needs similar reimagining. While nonprofits wrestle with traditional marketing challenges, Generation Z is revolutionizing how messages spread and communities engage. They’re showing us that effective communication isn’t about polished annual reports — it’s about authentic, direct engagement through channels we might not even be considering yet.

This generational shift demands new approaches to community outreach. For example, countless Americans lack basic internet connectivity, so we need to radically rethink how we reach those who need us most. The most innovative organizations understand that the community isn’t just invited to the table — the community is the table. This means meeting people where they are, whether through partnerships with local libraries, engagement through schools or creative use of existing community networks.

Shifting how we think extends to how we measure success. Instead of focusing solely on overhead ratios and traditional metrics, forward-thinking nonprofits are measuring their multiplication factor — how effectively they use partnerships, technology and community connections to expand their impact exponentially rather than incrementally.

In 2025, impact alone won’t be enough. Success will require more than just doing good work — it will demand doing it differently. The organizations that thrive won’t just be those with the strongest missions but rather those willing to challenge every assumption about how a nonprofit should operate.

Social impact won’t belong to the organizations with the biggest budgets or the longest histories. It belongs to those willing to embrace abundance over scarcity, multiplication over addition and innovation over tradition.

How Wipfli can help

In 2025, nonprofit organizations should look to balance mission-driven impact with operational innovation. The successful transition will require both deep sector understanding and innovative approaches to talent, technology and funding.

Wipfli can help. Our nonprofit industry expertise and technology solutions can help organizations reimagine their operating models, implement AI-powered efficiency tools, tap into technology as an enabler, build strategic partnerships and create sustainable funding strategies while maintaining mission focus. Learn more about our services for nonprofits.