How fundraising leaders can back digital growth with confidence

For many UK charity leaders, the challenge in 2026 is not whether digital fundraising can grow, but how to scale it confidently - without taking on disproportionate risk in an increasingly automated media landscape.

This article summarises the strategic thinking behind that approach and why it has delivered strong, repeatable results.

You can access a copy of the on-demand webinar here.

The challenge with scale

Scaling fundraising has traditionally meant one of two things:

• Increasing spend in existing channels and hoping performance holds
• Making a large leap into high-cost channels, such as TV, with limited testing

Both approaches expose organisations to risk; the first often leads to diminishing returns, and the second requires significant confidence that propositions, messages, and journeys will perform at scale.

The approach we outlined starts from a different place: scale can be considered an outcome of learning, rather than a starting point.

Insight-led growth: a lower-risk way to scale

At the heart of the framework is insight-led growth. This means deliberately starting in lower-cost, lower-risk environments and using them to answer the questions leaders need answered before scaling:

• Does this proposition genuinely drive response?
• Why does it work and with who?
• Can it be strengthened before we invest more heavily?

Paid campaigns in low cost digital channels allow charities to learn these things using real donor behaviour - not assumptions. Importantly, the insight gained is portable. What is learned in one channel can inform ongoing decisions, accumulating reach over time.

This is how risk is reduced; not by avoiding ambition, but by earning the right to scale.

How “always-on” fundraising can unlock the insight required to grow 

Many charities treat digital fundraising as a series of peaks (appeals), rather than an always-on system.

An always-on approach creates space to:

• Test propositions in live environments
• Learn iteratively, not retrospectively
• Improve algorithmic performance over time through stable data signals

It also de-risks major appeal moments. When ideas have already been validated and refined, leaders can invest with greater confidence when scale really matters.

Creative is now a strategic lever

One of the most significant shifts discussed in the session is that creative has replaced targeting as the primary driver of in-campaign optimisation.

As platforms increasingly automate audience delivery, the biggest variable organisations can control is the range and diversity of creative ideas they put into the system. Visually and conceptually distinct creative territories and routes allow platforms to find more responsive audiences, at lower cost.

For fundraising leaders, this reframes creative investment. It is no longer an executional cost. It is a strategic growth lever.

Web conversion is a performance pillar - but is rarely considered this way

Another recurring theme was the importance of the supporter journey itself.

Even strong acquisition campaigns will underperform if:

• Payment journeys create friction
• Donation asks are poorly sequenced
• Behavioural momentum is not considered
• “Dead-ends” are present in stewardship journeys

Small changes in journey structure can unlock significant performance uplift. From a leadership perspective, this is about ensuring the organisation is structurally set up to convert attention into income before propositions are shown to mass audiences

When scale becomes the right decision

The final stages of the framework focus on expanding into larger digital and broadcast channels. Crucially, scale only happens after propositions, creative territories, and journeys have proven themselves.

This is where leadership judgement matters most. Not every idea should scale. The framework exists to make those decisions clearer, not harder.

The result is confidence: confidence in spend, confidence in messaging, and confidence that growth is sustainable.

A final thought for 2026

The charities that scale successfully in 2026 will not be the ones that move fastest, or even spend the most. It will be the ones who ask the right questions - and in doing so learn more

For fundraising leaders, the question is not “what channel should we invest in next?”, but: What do we need to learn before we invest further?

That shift in thinking is where low-risk, high-reward growth begins. 

If your 2026 fundraising strategy needs to deliver growth without unnecessary risk, we can help.

Open works with charity leadership teams to turn insight into confident decisions - validating what works, strengthening performance, and scaling investment only when the evidence is there.

If you’re ready to move from testing to proven results that support your strategic goals, get in touch today.