How Charities Keep Support When Optimism Drops

Donor loyalty is changing fast, and the outdoor industry can learn a lot from it. We open with community and sector updates across Outdoors NSW ACT, including NAIDOC Week reflections, upcoming sessions with Gadhungal Marring, and key reminders for anyone tracking professional standards and events.

We also walk through what’s live right now for the industry: the AAAS review draft documents and webinar schedule, a hiring notice with Bushwalking NSW, the next draft release of the Outdoor Recreation and Leadership Training Package, and a last call window for the Pinnacle Leadership Program. If you work in outdoor education, outdoor recreation, or nature-based tourism, these deadlines and opportunities shape what capability looks like over the next year.

Then we dig into the headline research: McCrindle’s not-for-profit insights on public sentiment, donor behaviour, and volunteerism. Optimism is declining, yet giving remains steady, and the reasons matter. We talk cause-over-brand decision-making, generational differences (especially Gen Z donors), the TEM equation of time, energy, and money, and why donors increasingly want systemic solutions plus clear proof their support is working.

The most forward-looking shift is how AI and digital research are influencing donation choices. We unpack “portfolio giving,” impact comparisons, trust signals like transparency and authenticity, and why leaders can’t hide behind a logo anymore. If you want better donor retention, stronger community support, and messaging that earns trust, you’ll leave with a practical checklist of what to communicate and how.

Subscribe for more industry insights, share this with someone leading comms or fundraising, and leave a review if it helped. What’s one change you could make this month to show impact more clearly?

Transcript

Welcome And Weekly Industry Updates

SPEAKER_00 0:03

Welcome to the Outdoors New South Wales and Australian Capital Territory, weekly Outdoor Industry Connect and Share Forum, where ideas thrive, collaborations spark, and our industry comes together to grow. Let's connect, share, and make an impact. This episode is recorded live with our professional outdoor friends and provided post-event as a resource for the outdoor industry.

SPEAKER_01 0:27

Good morning everyone. Welcome to our Connect and Share Friday mornings, and this is episode 22 of season four. And it is the 10th of July, which means we have a big week ahead. But before we jump into the next week, uh let's start with a recap on what is going on. And certainly it's NADOC week this week, and the theme is deadly. A great opportunity to celebrate the history, culture, and all the achievements of our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. And on that note, I'd love to pay my respects to Elders Past, Present, and Emerging Who, which we work with every day to connect more understanding and connection to country, and we can pass that on to our participants. Next week in our events, we have the amazing Gadungle Maring coming along and uh in both events. So we'll have them uh help us uh try to decipher how to deal with cultural ethics when it comes to First Nations people on a tourism basis in our masterclass for those that are attending the tourism stream. And uh then at our outdoor learning conference, um, Gadungle will be sharing with us um some tips and tools to use in uh outdoor education. So uh thanks to our partners and uh Gadungle Maring, and we look forward to seeing you all uh doing the wonderful uh events that we have on. So, quick note I I didn't do this to Dom in the AAAS webinar that we just held, but we did win this state of origin. So well done, New South Wales. Uh, a great achievement. We still love our friends on the other side of the border, but uh I couldn't go without congratulating our wonderful blues for their amazing achievements uh this week. The

AAAS Review Timeline And Webinars

SPEAKER_01 2:13

AAAS review is underway, and uh you can see all those little logos down the bottom all sit behind the Outdoor Council of Australia, and uh that is who is responsible for the AAAS review that is available now. So the documents are out in draft, was really were released last week, and they are now available for download and uh and your your comments. So we urge you to uh certainly feedback your comments via the portal, and uh there's a very easy follow the dots uh style uh submission process, which we ask everyone to tell us what they think. Uh there is a series of webinars. I've just come off the 10th of July 9am one, which was our one uh hosted by Outdoors New South Wales ACT. And next week you have uh on Tuesday is the Outdoors Victoria one, Thursday is the Perth one, um, Friday will be two. There'll be uh the Adelaide one at 9am uh Adelaide time and the Queensland one at 12 p.m. uh Queensland time. Uh the final one will be on the 28th of July, and that will sort of uh reiterate some of the themes that are coming out of the comments so far, as well as just um confirming the process from that point forward. So jump onto any of those. If you missed uh today's, uh you will be able to catch it up on a recording, which will be sent out to all the members for their review. And this is the portal here. You can see it's quite uh easy to find on the AAAS review website. You can jump straight in and uh click those links and we'll take you to the surveys. Um,

Jobs, Training, Leadership Program Deadlines

SPEAKER_01 3:56

this is a reminder that our friends at Bushwalking New South Wales are hiring and they're looking for a general manager to take on some administrative roles and some leadership roles for the organisation in a part-time capacity. So if you are interested, please email operations at bushwalkingnsw.org.au. And this is probably your final reminder to get your project updates from Human Ability if you are interested in seeing the next version of the vet package. So that's the outdoor recreation and leadership training package. It will come out on the 21st of July. So uh make sure you're registered for updates and you will receive a copy of that draft for your review. Now, the Pinnacle Leadership Program Cohort 3 is open. Uh, when we come back from our events next week, we will probably be closing this off because it'll only be two weeks until the first module of that program. So if you do know any women that would love to be part of this program, this is the last version of the funded program. So it is heavily subsidized, which means they're getting $3,000 off the price of this course. So please, if they are interested, they need to jump in. We do have eight spots remaining, um, but as I say, we will have to close it off once we return from our events next week, uh, just to make sure that we meet our program uh timeline. So um please send it to anyone that you think would be interested.

Jervis Bay Events And Next Week Pause

SPEAKER_01 5:34

And here are all our events next week. If you haven't booked, you've literally got six hours before bookings close. So um, yeah, we've got our masterclass, our industry awards, and our learning conference all down in Jervis Bay next week. Um, and uh course, don't forget we've got the wonderful Maggie Dent coming along to our outdoor learning conference on the Friday. So that means that there is no connect and share next week. So if you aren't coming to our events and you're thinking, oh, Friday, 10 o'clock, I'll jump online. Please uh take a break next week. Have uh have something else on your to-do list that you can get done. We will be returning the week after. So um please remind everyone that uh there is no connect and share next week.

McCrindle Research And Public Mood

SPEAKER_01 6:25

Now, today I wanted to give you a bit of a uh a review of um the McCrindle research that came out, which was not-for-profit insights. Um, and uh I was absolutely privileged to attend the presentation of this, and uh I would love to share some of the slides with you uh to give you a bit of a depth of what McCrindle have been doing in the research of not-for-profits and certainly donors and volunteerism. So if you uh bear with us, we'll go through these slides and hopefully we'll have a discussion at the end about the implications that this has for potentially other areas of the industry. So this is the uh the pro the uh report. You can actually download it from the MacCrindle.com website, and uh certainly uh we'll be going through the top line uh outcomes of this report right now. But if you want the full report, you can download it on macrindle.com. So obviously, the uh the feeling at the moment is much of unrest, and as you all know, uh not only have we had uh earthquakes and uh weather events, but we've had wars in Iran, um, you know, budget, significant budget changes, a whole heap of different uh things that have been going on, which have caused incredible unrest in today's society. So, what happened is McCrindle went and uh marketed through their research to everyone and asked the question overall, when you think about where Australia will be in three years' time, are you optimistic, optimistic or pessimistic? And they do this regularly in their research. And you can see the difference here from 2021 to 2025, even before we've experienced what has been the beginning of 2026 with all the shifts and changes and unrest that we've had, you can see a lot more people are more pessimistic about where they think Australia will be. Obviously, if they do this study again in 2026, no doubt we'll probably start to see that pessimistic uh rise that little bit more. So we do have a declining optimism in today's society. So that sort of sets the scene. So, how um which of the following words would you use to describe how you feel about whether it be the unrest in Iran or COVID-19? This gives you a really good feeling for how different they're feeling right now in the unrest that is happening overseas. So, overall, this is Australians, of course, that are feeling anxious, more anxious than they did during COVID, more frustrated than they felt during COVID, and more unprepared. So, really interesting to see again the community sentiment around what is actually happening on the other side of the world. The five concerns from our general public are rising costs of living is still at that higher point at 82%. The emerging or growing international wars or conflicts is the next one. Global uncertainty, obviously highly linked to that, and then the rising interest rates. Although they've uh stagnated for a while, that's probably why it's sitting at that 61%, but obviously contributing to that rising cost of living one at the top.

Donor Priorities Shift Toward Causes

SPEAKER_01 9:53

So when we look at um people doing uh giving uh donations, uh, what McCrindle have is a great uh database or connection through their survey of close to 1300 regular donors. And this survey is very much around those donors, and it gives us an idea of um their uh giving to charity or not-for-profit organizations and the reasons why and uh and what they hope to gain from that. So this uh you can see that we did have a dip, and that is uh only this year, so it's 2025 to the growth is back up in 2026. Interesting considering that community sentiment we just spoke about. So, but there is this consistency of giving is remaining. So whether it's least monthly or least annually, it is quite consistent. So very good to see. But the changing donor profiles is really um what Sophie spoke about. Um, because what we've done is we've gone from a brand reputation basis where people have believed in a brand to really now relating to the cause more than the brand. So it's no longer just um recognizing and then uh and contributing, it's understanding and then contributing. So let's go through it. The causes more than brand. So when you're considering giving financially to a charity or not-for-profit, it matters more when you understand the cause or the area of need. So certainly 68% to 32% is quite um a high area in that people need to understand the cause or the area of need. But the familiarity and the reputation of the charity or not-for-profit used to be the highest one, and now it is actually secondary to understanding more about that cause. The top eight causes you can see here where they used to be in the numbers to the right, and then where they are today. So children's charities still remain top priority. People are connecting the most with children's charities. Second and still remains second, is medical and cancer research, although it has um it actually has increased dramatically from where it sat previously. So you can see it was at 35%, is now up close to 43% or 42% for medical and cancer research. Um, homelessness has risen from fifth position to third. So whether that cost of living aspect has kicked in there to form a more closer alliance to homelessness, uh, animal welfare is the next one. And I think the next one uh which is interesting used to be number three, now number five is mental health. So it has actually gone down the scale of the top causes, uh, but still relatively in the same percentile. The

Gen Z Giving And The TEM Equation

SPEAKER_01 12:58

causes by generation really does show the difference in age and what they want to contribute to. So if you look at the Gen Z, which is um obviously our uh younger workers in today's society, are focused more on mental health versus children's charities, and then homelessness. So homelessness is popping in there in that demographic only as one of the top areas of need. While our baby boomers on the other spectrum are certainly focusing in on medical and cancer research, uh, children's charities is also uh up there, it's it's the second one, and then disaster response, the only demographic that's has disaster response in its top three. Whereas Gen Y and Gen X are very similar on their uh the scaling of their top three. So children's charities being one, medical research being two, and then animal welfare. So what we're actually saying here is that we've gone from standardized appeals to really diversifying the curation of that giving. So the TEM equation, this is something I didn't know, and uh was introduced to me by McCrindle, but this is where donors and volunteers are now seeing uh the TEM equation as being part of their contribution. So no longer is it just money, but they're equating uh the time that they can spend, the energy they put in and money to equal the contribution that they can give to an organization. And Gen Z and Gen Y are definitely more likely than their older counterparts to volunteer in today's society. So a very interesting shift over the last 10 years where obviously that merging workforce were more reluctant to volunteer, and now we're seeing uh this shape this shift and this change to where uh we've got 39% of our our Gen Z are now wanting to volunteer. So Gen Z are actually two and a half, sorry, 2.8 times more likely than our baby boomers to also share information or advocate for causes on social media but also in general. Um, so yeah, really interesting that they want to amplify what they're contributing to as well. And over the next 12 months, do they anticipate that their financial giving to charities will increase or decrease? So you can significantly see here that the sliding scale in the older generations are to decrease more than increase. Whereas our Gen Z and our Gen Ys are wanting to certainly increase. So there's a real connection with Gen Z and Gen Y to giving financially to charities and not-for-profits. So certainly something to understand if you are running uh a charitable business. So

Major Donors And Giving Commitment

SPEAKER_01 16:01

impact partners. When MacCrindle have their database of all the funders that contribute to not-for-profits, they've categorized them into micro donors, so people that would contribute less than $100, base supporters, which is $100 to $199, key supporters, which is from two to a thousand, and then impact partners, which is over a thousand. So when you look at who is giving at least monthly, it is highly our impact partners. It is the ones that do contribute more that do it monthly, and then a sliding scale down depending on the value. But the giving style is opportunity givers versus committed givers. So what this means is that 59% of those impact partners are very committed to the cause that they're giving to and will continue to do so. But 41% will see opportunities and divert what they're contributing to to another cause if they see an opportunity to do so. So you can see it's very uh half half when it comes to those top providers, even from base supporters through impact partners, they can be swayed by opportunity. They're not really connected and fully committed to their ongoing support mechanisms. Um, our micro donors are definitely the ones that jump from one to another and provide based on opportunities that they are given. And over the next 12 months, do these givers anticipate their financial giving to charities will increase or decrease? And this is broken up into those different categories of how much they give. So if you remember before, it was certainly our baby boomers that were on the decreased sliding scale versus our Y's and our Z. But now when you look at actually based on dollar figures, it is certainly the higher donors are really wanting to increase their giving. So, yeah, interesting that there is money out there to support our needing charity areas for our causes. So moving from responsible donors to strategic partners is really the recommendation that McCrindle has spoken about in this report because this is why. When considering giving financially to a charity, which matters more? 61% of all of these givers said personal connection to the cause or the area of need. So you've actually got quite a high percentage there that really want to understand what that cause is, what the contribution is, what's the area of need, and where are my dollars going when it comes to the donations that I provide, versus the evidence of the effectiveness of the charity or not-for-profit. But the donors prioritize systemic solutions over reactive relief, because 76% of charities that are working to solve the root cause of an issue are really what matters more. So that's really key. If they understand the root cause of an issue, they're working towards it, that is where people are connecting better to those charities. If they're working to fill an immediate need, it's definitely on the lower scale. So that is mattering more, understanding the root cause. And do you feel more of a responsibility to supporting charities that are working to bring about global or local change? Well, this is real half-half stuff. So really it depends on the person. Uh global change, 53, 47 local. So really it doesn't matter. It goes back to that earlier slide. It's being connected to the cause, understand the root cause, contributing to something to make a difference. And here, when we break it up per generation, this might show a little bit of a shift. Mind you, baby boomers and our Gen X's are very high half-half, and our Gen Ys are very half-half. But when it comes to the Gen Z, and if you remember, they are the ones more likely to increase their giving, they are looking at more global change. So they are seeing the unrest of probably what's happening overseas, wanting to influence change there, and they're seeing a global aspiration to their dollars contributing to a cause. Our impact partners, which are our larger donators, are 1.7 times more likely than our smaller donors to look at global change. So they're seeing their dollars definitely go to that global uh impact versus our local. The question was asked of them what do you think differentiates the charities not-for-profits that you support from others? And this is a lesson for us all if we are in this business to get uh our donations is that people saw the consistency with their values and the approach, and it was matched with who they were donating to. They saw transparent, they saw honest communication about successes or failures, uh, and really treated, as the title says, as a true partnership in that communication line. They have a strong focus on addressing the root causes, and they certainly show clear communication around financial breakdowns, low overheads, or uh where the dollars are actually going into the business. And is locally or deeply embedded in our own community was the last one there. So differentiators for attracting our Gen Z donors, again, the ones that uh seem to be increasing their donation, um, is around innovative tech solutions, uh collaborative uh with donors to help develop more. Solutions and investing in creating authentic communities. So certainly that is driving that operational change, but also they want to see a brand that is modern and engaging, that's unique and authentic. As you can see there, our baby boomers don't necessarily value these particular aspects, but certainly our Gen Z have a high percentage to do so.

AI, Impact Proof, And Digital Trust

SPEAKER_01 22:27

So AI innovation and what does this mean when it comes to giving? What McCrindle have said, we're moving from loyalty to a portfolio. So there's all these issues that we know exist in today's society that are all asking for the dollar, for the support, for volunteerism, uh, so that we can make change. So when you consider financially to a charity, which of the following do you prefer? Well, 84% said giving to a small number of charities, not for profits, where I can feel I'm making that difference. Well, 16% said giving across various activities and supporting a wide range of needs and societies. They're feeling probably that that's not going to contribute to the cause nor provide benefit to the organization. So we're highly down that end of significant difference. We want to make a difference. That's why people are giving. And Gen Z are consistently giving to a number of greater charities. So you can see here they are a lot more likely to give more than five charities, but certainly they are the ones in the upper echelon of the $200 plus in the last 12 months. And they are also the ones that give monthly as well as our Gen Y's. So, you know, you can easily see here why this report has focused on Gen Z and where it sits in the giving communities. But where does AI come in? Well, 72% of donors would reduce their support if they found another charity with a hired measured impact in the same area. So what are we seeing? We're seeing our Gen Z get onto AI and ask the questions. They're actually doing research in the areas of impact, and that certainly fuels their donor retention. So two in five said that they would reduce their donation if the impacts they were giving weren't visible after a few years. So here's the lesson for us all. We need to communicate what is actually happening, where the donations are going, what impact that is making on the cause that they have contributed to over the course of their giving. How long have they continually given? You can see after five years, they're switching and changing. So no longer are we down in the area of a brand that we're committed to long term, that uh you know we are switching between the three and five year mark to various other charities. So the loyalty isn't an option, as McCrendall said. We're moving from loyalty to a portfolio of giving. And personal connections bring people to gauge with a charity, but they will shift if they aren't seeing those results. So that's where we see that shift of that three to five years. So in a crowded market, charities and not-for-profits need to be communicating their impact to effectively retain their donors. And how likely, how do you like to be thanked for being appreciated by a charity? Um, they like an email, um, but really generically, no thank you is actually needed. And that's a really interesting one because I think a lot of charities spend most of their time thanking their donors instead of telling them where that money went and what that money did for the cause in which they represent. So you can see here that does uh change a little bit per the demographics. So the early access preview to new research or campaigns is definitely prioritized by our Gen Z. But when you come to the no thank you needed, it's our baby boomers that say, Yeah, don't thank me, it's all good. Um, I've committed to this cause. Um, but yes, it's very different across the board of our generations. But the digital presence, and let's go back to that AI uh situation where we know that Gen Z are on AI asking for their feedback on where uh the cause is best met and who they should contribute to. So two-thirds of donors strongly or somewhat agree that it's essential for charities to provide safe and simple digital donation options. And we're moving into a world where we won't have money uh in our wallets, we'll just have our chips in our phones or in our watches to do all of our transactions. So the easy access that we provide, the more beneficial it will be. So, how likely are they to engage with a charity or not-for-profit in contributing to a fundraising campaign that's started by a family or a friend? This is your endorsement of friends and families that create momentum. So it's that endorsement that uh will be willing for others to look at that option. This one, making a donation on a charity's official website using PayPal. Yep, no issue there. Uh, making cash or contactless card donation in a public place, less than on the website, but you know, this is your your uh opportunistic ones that we spoke about early. If they believe in a cause and there's an opportunity to do so, that would probably happen in a public place. Donate through an automated micro donation, and then it goes right down to responding via email, providing the social media platform, and uh engaging the AI agent. So you can see here these 14% are probably your your uh earlier generations, your Gen Z and uh Gen Ys, but um there's still 14% that get that AI agent to help them decide which organization to donate to. So let's look at our technology just a little bit closer. You can see obviously the older generations, not too worried about the technology side, but our Gen Z, again, the ones that are more likely to increase their donations and have the propensity to spend more in their donations, are certainly connected to the needs of what technology can provide them. So, as donors utilising AI agents to research a charity's impact, it's very important to reflect on how to communicate your organization's impact, not just to the emotive human, but to AI agents. So, like all our businesses today, we have to use AI to make sure that we have our content in AI platforms so that others can find us as well. This is no different in the charity area. So, what are the AI innovation opportunities that you're experimenting with and embedding in the processes in 2026? Start getting out that list. We need to start doing this because we know that we're working from a prioritization of professionalism to a real authentic community, and AI does that incredibly well. So, how much do we trust these things? Yes, this is interesting. We trust our local businesses, we trust our charities, we trust our large tech companies more than local government, large businesses, state government, federal government, religious organizations, and of course the bottom one is media. So that is from the general population that if we are in that top echelon, we are in the ability to gain that trust. But what we are seeing is that declining trust because people are searching for relatable, authentic, and human elements. So if we're going to maintain that trust, that's what we've got to provide. Relatable, authentic, and human elements. So the questions were asked: how important are the following in your decision to engage with a brand or organization? They want to trust the organization. At the end of the day, if they don't have that trust, that's 73% have to actually personally trust that brand or that organization to connect with them. So again, let's go back to the earlier slide. It's finding that relatable, authentic, and human element to gain that trust. So that's number one. Reputation comes second. Trusting the organization's leader is third. How many times do you not see the leader at the forefront of the communications? The leader is the most important person in an organization and its direction. So where are we seeing that leader in the communications? The authenticity of the brand personality comes next, then followed by knowing the story and values, creating a personal brand, and knowing the story and values of the organization's leader. So again, highlighting that impersonate connection to the people behind the trusted brand. So, what are the characteristics do you look for? We look for transparency, we look for authenticity, integrity, consistency, and passion. So if you've got that little checklist there, have a look at that in your own communications. Even if you're not a not-for-profit, these are incredibly important when it is about connecting to future customers and retaining existing ones. And Gen Z are 10 times or nine times more likely, I should say, 10% of Gen Z, nine times more likely than Baby Boomers to look for a charity that has a humor. So there we go. For all those people that are budding comedians out there, bring a bit of humor into your communications and to connect with your Gen Z. Gen Z are also 3.4 times more likely to value vulnerability. And that comes into that question where they wanted to know the warts and all. You know, they wanted to know the positives and the negatives, the successes and the not so, uh, and that is part of that transparency that they want to see in the organizations they donate with. So considerations for leaders, moving from that corporate styleness to a differentiating a personal brand, bringing that personality to life behind that brand. Don't hide behind the logo. Let's profile the leaders, let's get them out the front and start communicating for the organizations, and moving from a generic to more of an authentic position in their communications. So, as I say, even though this presentation and report were very much around the not-for-profits and uh certainly charities, there is a lot of lessons in this, I think, for all of our businesses and all of our causes. As we know in the outdoor industry, we are here to get more people healthier and connecting to nature and outside more often. And uh, if we take some of this out of the report and implement it ourselves, I'm sure we will be better further ahead.

Stories, Community, And Key Takeaways

SPEAKER_01 33:41

So the top five top stories of that inspire people to give one the progress updates of the work that the donation is supporting is number one, stories of community-wide impact, evidence of organizational efficiency, stories told directly by the beneficiaries, and the fifth one there, specific needs, highlighting a story, highlighting a project, what is it that your money can go towards? So that's good to know. You can actually focus on some of those aspects and uh and get that attention for donations. And Gen Z again are 1.9 times more likely than baby boomers to be inspired by these stories. And it could be even a policy change or a legislative win by the organization that will inspire them to continue to give. Building community is a purpose. 53% of donors strongly or somewhat agree that it's not about the charity with a trusted name, but they value being part of the community that works together to bring change. So a really, really important point. It's about that community, it's about building that brand, it's about connection to cause. And I think that's all I have for you from the McCrindle report. So hopefully you took something from that and were able to think about that in your own context. Or if you work with a charity, volunteer for a charity, involved in a not-for-profit, take that off to your group and uh see if you can take some of those learnings into your organization. So on that note, we are done for today's Connect and Share. I will close the recording. We'll have a good discussion with our friends that are here with us today. And remember, no Connect and Share next week as we have our annual events down in Jervis Bay, but we will be here the week after. So have a great weekend, everyone. Have a great week ahead, and we'll see you all very soon.

SPEAKER_00 35:44

Thank you for joining the weekly Outdoor Industry Connect and Share Forum. Brought to you by Outdoors, New South Wales, and Australian Capital Territory, your peak body for the outdoor industry. Together with our members, we're shaping the future of the outdoors. See you next week for more insights and collaboration.