2025 Nonprofit Trends: AI, Accessibility, and Team Well-Being

As nonprofits look to the future, staying ahead of trends can feel overwhelming. In this episode of Health Nonprofit Digital Marketing, Spencer Brooks shares lessons from the past year and explores three pivotal trends shaping the sector in 2025: the transformative role of AI in fostering audience connections, the critical importance of digital accessibility in advancing DEI efforts, and strategies to support team mental health while balancing workloads. Tune in to discover practical tools and forward-thinking strategies to navigate the evolving landscape in 2025.

Contact Spencer

• Email: spencer@brooks.digital
• Contact form on Brooks Digital Website: https://brooks.digital/contact/

Full Transcript

 00:04

Welcome to Health Nonprofit Digital Marketing, a podcast for nonprofit marketers in the health space. Join us as we discuss how to use the web to drive awareness, engagement and action for health causes. This podcast is part of the thought education of Brooks Digital, the web agency for health nonprofits. Now here’s your host, Spencer Brooks.

Spencer Brooks 00:26

Hello everyone. Welcome to this special holiday message from Brooks Digital and the Health Nonprofit Digital Marketing podcast. As always, I’m Spencer Brooks, and I’m so glad you’re tuning in during this busy season. You know whether you’re winding down after a big year by taking a much needed break, or maybe you’re back in the office making that end of year campaign push, I really appreciate you making time for this short episode. As we close out the year, I wanted to take a few moments to reflect on the incredible work that nonprofits in the health space have accomplished in 2024 and also share my thoughts on what 2025 might bring. So, you know, feel free to grab a cup of coffee tea, or, you know, maybe even some hot cocoa. And let’s jump in.

Spencer Brooks 01:12

So, 2024, I think it’s been a year of resilience, but also innovation and impact for nonprofits who are doing work in the health space. As I’m sure a lot of you know, there have been some ongoing challenges, but I’ve seen organizations embrace increased digital transformation, use of digital tools. They’ve leaned into storytelling. They’ve found creative ways to engage their communities too. One of the standout themes that I’ve noticed this year is just how nonprofit marketers in this space have really practiced listening to their communities and then tailoring their outreach, their programs and campaigns based on what they heard. I know if you’ve listened to this podcast for a while, you’ve heard a couple episodes about this, and it’s been really great to see the work that’s been happening in that area, I think it’s been especially impactful in addressing some of the unique needs of historically underserved communities, which just helps organizations build trust and foster deeper engagement through those sort of targeted campaigns and communications that they can produce by going and listening to their audience in these communities. So whether they’re doing audience research or community driven storytelling or multicultural marketing, I’ve really seen the sector take big steps forward in that area. Another highlight for me is, in a similar vein, just really the incredible ways that nonprofits have been addressing equity in the health space, really bringing diverse voices to the table, tackling some systemic issues head on. We’ve done quite a few episodes on that as well, and it’s really been inspiring to watch these organizations not just respond to the immediate needs, but also try to work to drive long term change.

Spencer Brooks 03:01

As we look ahead to 2025, I’m seeing some exciting trends on the horizons, some trends that I think will shape how nonprofits operate and make an impact. So three trends I wanted to mention to go over in this episode.

Spencer Brooks 03:19

The first, which will not surprise you, is AI and automation and marketing. Listen, if I didn’t put this in the list, then you would think that as probably being a little blind. Think we have to talk about AI. Obviously, it’s becoming more and more used in the nonprofit sector and just in business and the professional setting as a whole, I’ve seen it help overwhelmed marketing departments, both as a thought partner and a virtual assistant. For example, many organizations are already using different forms of AI to draft personalized email campaigns or maybe analyze donor behavior, automate repetitive tasks like social media scheduling and stuff like that. Those tools are obviously not only saving people time, but also allowing them to focus on that strategic mission driven work by freeing up the time on just the mundane or the repetitive tasks. And so in 2025 as you probably can see as well, I am expecting more organizations to adopt those AI driven tools for producing campaigns, content and other marketing materials. That is not going to be a surprise to anyone, but I think that as you consider how to prepare for 2025, as you know, everyone is going to be adopting these tools. So, I would encourage you to consider the broad impact that that will have when the nonprofit sector and the for profit sector too are implementing these tools in aggregate together, right? You’re going to see a global increase in AI generated or AI assisted content, and your audience is going to see more and more of this. I think it’s going to be both higher quality content as a whole. There’s going to be a higher volume of content, I think because everyone’s just able to produce content more efficiently. So either you know quality or quantity are both going to go up. And you know there may be instances where your audience can kind of tell that might be AI generated or AI assisted content. And you know, for some types of content, that may not be terrible, for other things it could and so as you look at that overall trend, as people become inundated with even more content, consider how you as an organization, you as a marketer, can make a more personal, emotional connection with your audience, you know, maybe leaning more into storytelling, leaning more into things like video or personalized content, or however that looks like for you. You know, as people are just getting so much content thrown in their face, maybe there’s an erosion of trust happening. Maybe there’s and in fact, I won’t say maybe, I think that it will actually, that will be my prediction. I’ll put my stake down and say, in an AI driven world, trust is going to be harder to earn, and so leaning into more personal, more emotional connections, I think will help you stand out and drive more impact. So lastly, before I move on to my second trend, I would also consider, in light of that, making a bold choice to become world class in one or two specific channels to better stand out. I think because the quality of marketing overall is likely to rise because of AI tools, I believe that making a strategic decision to say, hey, these are the specific channels that we’re really going to double down on, and we’re actually going to pool our resources. We’re going to pool our efforts into these to really stand out, to become world class in our space, in these specific channels, could be a interesting or viable strategy for you to consider in the new year.

Spencer Brooks 07:20

Second trend: digital accessibility is a conversation that I’ve been having with folks a little bit this year already. I think in 2025 digital accessibility is going to emerge as a critical component of DEI and health equity. I think it’s not currently a major player in that conversation, but ensuring that your websites, your apps, your online tools are accessible to everyone, including people with disabilities, I think it’s going to be a non-negotiable aspect of serving diverse communities and meeting your donor expectations as well. There’s also a rising trend in lawsuits for websites, apps, digital properties that are not accessible.

Spencer Brooks 08:10

In 2025, Brooks Digital is going to be releasing an accessibility report on that trend, on just accessibility as a form of digital inclusion. What nonprofits need to know about the different laws, about the different trends, the ways that there have been, you know, lawsuits in the past, and importantly, what to do about that, like, what, what’s the future? All these things, right? So look for that in 2025 as a resource for you, and as you are considering preparing to improve your digital accessibility. In terms of how to prepare for that, things like conducting an accessibility audit of your digital platforms is a really great place to start. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines are the standard, the international standard for what digital accessibility compliance means. So ensuring that your digital platforms are compliant with those standards is quite important. You can do that through various ways that you are familiar with already likely, such as providing alternative text for images, as well as ways that you might not be familiar with, like ensuring that people can use their keyboard, like tabbing through your website if they can’t physically use a mouse, or using a screen reader if they have visual impairments, doing things also like training your team on accessibility best practices is going to position your organization as a leader in digital inclusivity. So digital accessibility, I think, is something that people are sleeping on right now, but you should know about it, and I think that it’ll be a more talked about, a more critical component of DEI in 2025 and beyond.

Spencer Brooks 10:00

Number three is balancing workload and well-being. Listen, I don’t need to tell you this, but as a non-profit professional, you’re often carrying a heavy workload. I know burnout remains a significant issue in the sector. I think in 2025 more organizations are going to recognize the importance of prioritizing mental health and well-being for their teams, not just as a shift to create increased productivity, but also just to create a sustainable work culture that retains talented, committed staff and ensures that the organization creates long term impact as a result, and so as you’re thinking as a leader about how to prepare for that, I would suggest beginning by assessing your organization’s current culture and policies around workload and mental health. I personally believe the best litmus test of that is how you as a leader behave, right? Are you modeling good workload balance and prioritizing your own well being? Because so goes the leader, so goes the culture. Right people are looking to you first and foremost, especially the more senior you are, if you do lead a team, that is the first question that I would ask. Consider also asking your team if they feel like they have clear goals around which to prioritize their work, to make those trade off decisions with the limited, finite amount of time that they do have, as well as encouraging obviously flexible work schedules or things like partnering with mental health professionals to support your team, I think having just a conversation around this, regular check ins with employees and with team members, as well as just providing them the resources, goes a long way, because ultimately, I think a healthier team leads to a more effective organization.

Spencer Brooks 11:55

 So those are just a few of the trends I’m watching closely in the next year. I’m excited to see how nonprofits rise to the occasion honestly, and the sector, I think, has done a good job, is very resilient, is very inspiring. So, before I sign off, I just, I wanted to take a moment to say thank you. Whether you’re a regular listener, maybe you’re a client or just a leader, working tirelessly in your community, I think that your passion, the creativity, the commitment to making a difference, that I’ve seen through the interviews, through the work, with the clients, and then the sector, what I see there is what keeps me excited to share this podcast with you, to interview people in the space, to be able to highlight, to expose, to cross pollinate, what’s happening in the sector. It is really, really cool and inspiring to see what is going on.

Spencer Brooks 12:48

So, as we head into 2025 know that the work that you’re doing, it really does matter. You’re just not meeting immediate needs, although that could certainly be what it seems like day to day, but you are also shaping a better future for us all. So, for that I am, I’m very, very grateful. So that’s it for today’s special holiday message, I’m gonna be back with brand new episodes starting January 10. We have some exciting new episodes on things like philanthropy trends in 2025, and more good storytelling content. So, I can’t wait to dive into more of those topics, it’s ideas strategies with you in the new year. Also, if you’re considering a website redesign in 2025, Brooks Digital, we have only one or two spots open for new clients in the first half of next year. So shoot me an email at Spencer@Brooks.digital if you want to schedule a call to discuss your project, you can also use the contact form on our website at www.Brooks.digital, but with all that, wishing you a joyful holiday season and a fantastic start to 2025 take care, and I will see you in the new year with more exciting episodes.

14:07

Thanks for listening to health, nonprofit digital marketing. If you liked this episode, leave us a review on your favorite podcast platform, and don’t forget to check out the Brooks Digital website at www.Brooks.digital where you can find other resources like this podcast, learn how we help nonprofits like yours, and get in touch with our team. See in the next episode.