2026: The Four Digital Strategy Imperatives for Canadian Nonprofits

This blog was contributed by Salytics as part of an ongoing partnership with ONN.

For Canadian nonprofits, 2026 won’t be defined by a single trend, technology, or threat. It will be defined by how well organizations adapt to an environment where demand continues to rise faster than capacity, fundraising models are shifting, digital transformation is uneven, and donors are more diverse in identity and expectation than ever before. In our work at Salytics, we see these pressures playing out in every engagement, from small social service agencies to large federated institutions and they are reshaping how leaders set strategy.

Across Canada, nonprofits are asking the same thing in different ways: we have to modernize faster, but we also have to do it smarter.

Based on our delivery experience, and supported by recent sector research, here are the four most important digital strategy considerations for 2026.

1. Demand Is Up. Capacity Isn’t. Digital Maturity Must Bridge the Gap.

Nonprofits continue to face a structural imbalance: more people need support, but organizations are not scaling capacity at the same rate. Global survey data confirms nearly half of nonprofits are seeing increased demand for services, yet only a third have increased staffing to match, putting pressure on program delivery and operational systems.

This gap can’t be closed with incremental system upgrades alone. It requires intentional digital maturity. The trend is clear: nonprofits that invest in digital infrastructure are improving service models, strengthening donor engagement, and creating internal efficiencies. But readiness is uneven. Many organizations still lack the data, tools, or skills to take advantage of analytics, automation, and AI, even as early adopters pull ahead.

For 2026, digital strategy should focus less on tools and more on architecture:

• Consolidated constituent data that powers personalized engagement and impact reporting
• Modern CRM platforms integrated across fundraising, service delivery, and marketing
• Process automation to offset staffing constraints
• Clear data governance to protect privacy and ensure trust

Digital maturity isn’t a technology outcome; it’s an operational one. The nonprofits that treat it that way are outperforming peers.

2. Fundraising Models Are Shifting, and Digital Relationship-Building Is the New Competitive Edge.

For the first time in four years, fundraising has overtaken staffing as the top challenge facing nonprofits.

Organizations are responding by reshaping strategy: 85% report changes to their fundraising approach, and the most common shifts are increased investment in marketing and communications, diversification of channels, and deeper digital engagement.

It’s also increasingly clear that hybrid fundraising models are becoming the norm.These combine in-person, digital, and community-based channels. The individuals that have already benefited from your organization are most likely to become advocates, who are most likely to become volunteers/mentors, who are most likely to become corporate partners and/or recurring givers.  Most organizations rely on this occurring organically instead of a digital strategy that supports these milestones over the member journey and encourages conversion from one stage to the next.  Think: Audience Specific, Timely, Relevant and Personalized.

For 2026, the strategic question isn’t: How do we raise more money right now?
It’s: How do we build enduring supporter value?

That means:

• Investing in donor journey mapping and lifecycle automation
• Using data to segment not just who donors are, but why they give
• Building digital-first stewardship touchpoints supported by human connection

Organizations that do this well will not only weather volatility, they’ll compound engagement year over year.

3. Digital Equity and Workforce Reality Must Be Built Into Planning, Not Addressed After the Fact.

Across the nonprofit sector labour assumptions are being rewritten. Ontario data shows the sector is hopeful and determined, but it is also exhausted and under-resourced.

Most organizations face rising costs, staffing stress, and program pressure.

This matters strategically: transformation plans fail when internal capacity is overlooked. If digital strategy is built without clear change management plans, skills development, and role clarity, all the technology in the world won’t drive adoption.

Forward-looking nonprofits are now integrating workforce considerations directly into their digital strategy:

• Skills mapping: understanding which capabilities already exist internally and what needs to be built or bought
• Automation roadmap: reducing busywork to free staff for high-impact tasks
• Volunteer enablement: modernizing how organizations recruit, train, and manage volunteers – a major untapped resource identified in the sector research
• Realistic resourcing: building project timelines and budgets around organizational reality, not aspiration

This is why Salytics focuses on change management, adoption planning, and reliable delivery. Acknowledging people as central to digital progress will be one of the biggest determinants of momentum in 2026.

4. Canada’s Donor Base Is Becoming More Diverse, Digital Strategy Needs to Reflect It.

The most forward-thinking nonprofit strategies we are seeing right now are those intentionally designed for demographic change. Multicultural Canadians represent the fastest-growing donor segment in the country, and their giving patterns are distinct:

• 79% donate to nonprofits, with strong average participation across demographics 
• Internationally-born donors contribute at comparable or higher rates than Canadian-born donors
• Place-based and event-based giving are strong engagement channels, especially among Afro-Caribbean, Filipino, and South Asian donors

Yet most nonprofits are not architecting digital journeys for this reality. Messaging, segmentation, stewardship, and content (especially digital content) remain overly generic.

In 2026, digital strategy must intentionally align with multicultural donor expectations. That includes:

• Community-specific value propositions
• Multilingual digital pathways
• Audience-tailored storytelling
• Data models that understand donor identity beyond postal code and age

This is not only an inclusion imperative it’s a revenue and relevance imperative.

The Strategic Opportunity in 2026

Taken together, these considerations lead to one conclusion: Canadian nonprofits cannot afford to interpret digital strategy as technology procurement. It must be a redesign of how organizations operate, engage, and deliver impact.

The encouraging news? The sector has momentum. We’re seeing  optimism, resilience, adaptability and real progress. But the organizations that will outperform in 2026 will be those that:

• Build intentional digital maturity
• Modernize fundraising models
• Architect strategy around workforce reality
• Engage donors through a more representative lens

These are not abstract themes. They are solvable challenges, and we help leaders solve them every day. If you’re unsure of where to start or are stuck in your digital projects we would love to chat and potentially lend a hand.

If 2025 was a year of pressure, 2026 will be a year of positioning. We hope you see the opportunity the way we do. The nonprofits that embrace this moment with clarity and ambition will shape not only their own future, but the future of the sector.

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Related resources:

• Nonprofit Cloud Migration Blueprint – your guide that outlines the benefits and considerations of migrating from Salesforce’s Nonprofit Starter Pack (NPSP) to the new Nonprofit Cloud.
• Your Blueprint to a Digital Transformation – most Nonprofits are in a state of Digital Transformation whether they are actively stewarding it forward or not. This step-by-step practice guide takes the tools, processes and best practices from our Nonprofit Consulting practice and puts them directly in your hands with downloadable resources and video tutorials.
• Salesforce Health Check Registration – we have provided sponsorship to give a limited number of Salesforce health check audits at no charge to ONN Members.  This provides an in-depth assessment and recommendations across Salesforce Data Hygiene and Usage, System Maintenance and Security & Access. (Estimated Value: $8K)

Contact Salytics directly for more information on their services.