There’s a question I keep hearing from nonprofit leaders this year, in different words: “We know our programs work. Why is it so hard to prove it?”

It’s a fair question, and the timing makes it urgent. In February 2026, the Center for Effective Philanthropy surveyed 380 nonprofit CEOs. Almost 60% said foundation grants have been harder to secure since January 2025. More than a third had lost federal funding. Nearly three in four saw demand for their services go up. And the share running a deficit jumped from 22% in 2022 to 39% in 2025.

More need. Less money. More organizations chasing the same foundation dollars.

In that market, good work isn’t enough on its own. Funders are choosing between many good organizations. They fund the ones that can show what’s changing, and why.

The trap: reporting for funders

Under pressure, the instinct is to give every funder exactly what they ask for. A new metric here, a new template there. Before long, your team spends its week filling out reports that nobody inside the organization uses.

That’s backwards. It puts the funder in charge of your story, and it burns staff time you can’t spare.

The organizations that stand out do the opposite. They own their impact story. They decide what success looks like, collect the data that proves it, and then translate that story for each funder. They compete for funding on their terms.

Four moves get you there.

1. Agree on the outcomes that matter, before a funder asks

Most organizations can tell you what they do: meals served, students enrolled, sessions held. Fewer can tell you what changes for people because of it.

Start there. Get leadership and program staff in a room and answer one question: What should be different for the people we serve because we exist? Pick three to five outcomes and write them down. That list becomes the spine of every proposal, report and board update.

This is the Align step in ResultsLab’s ACT™ model, and it’s the one most teams skip.

2. Collect only the data you’ll use

More data isn’t better data. Every question on an intake form costs staff time and participant patience.

Look at what you collect today and ask two things about every field: Does this tell us whether we’re reaching one of our outcomes? Will anyone actually look at it? If the answer is no, cut it. You’ll get time back and cleaner data on what matters. (That’s Capture.)

3. Tell the story in the funder’s language, on your terms

Once you know your outcomes and have evidence behind them, you can meet each funder where they are without rebuilding your story every time. A workforce funder wants employment outcomes. A health funder wants wellbeing. Often you can serve both from the same core data. You’re translating, not starting over.

This is where your point of view matters. Your data shows what changed. Your POV explains why it matters, and why you. We wrote about building one here: How Can You Attract Donors in a Competitive Funding Environment? Sharpen Your POV.

4. Use your data to decide what to grow, fix or sunset

This is the uncomfortable one, and it’s the one funders notice most. When money is tight, you can’t keep funding every program at the same level out of habit. Data lets you make those calls in the open: grow what’s working, fix what’s close, and let go of what isn’t.

Funders read that as discipline. Your team reads it as focus. And your board finally gets a clear answer to “Is this working?” (That’s Transform.)

Where to start this week

You don’t need a new system to begin. Pick one program. Write down the three outcomes it exists to create. Then look at what you collect and ask whether it tells you if you’re getting there.

Want a faster read on where you stand? Our free Impact Readiness Assessment takes about 10 minutes and shows where your data practice is strong and where it’s losing you time. Take the free Readiness Assessment →

Rather talk it through? Book a 15- or 30-minute call with our team →

Funding will stay tight for a while. But the organizations that know their outcomes, and can show them, are the ones funders keep choosing. That can be you.

Source: Center for Effective Philanthropy, State of Nonprofits 2026 (380 nonprofit CEOs, fielded February 2026).