Last month, we were at the Fundraising Institute Australia (FIA) Conference 2026 in Melbourne. We set up our Klevr Fundraising exhibit stand and got to meet and talk to many wonderful delegates and some of our clients, as well as colleagues at Microsoft who were also attending this event.
What’s on the mind of fundraising teams in 2026?
While we spent most of our time at the stand, we kept our ears to the ground. It was fascinating to hear what topics were swirling around the delegate break out areas and main hall. A few key themes kept coming up in our chats:
- The Wealth Transfer & Legacy
There was a lot of talk about the generational transition of wealth. Many of you are focused on the “long game”, how to create meaningful stewardship strategies that keep Gifts in Wills supporters engaged over decades, not just months. Strategies and technologies that can support bequest programs are being prioritised. - Practical AI
The “hype” of AI is settling into a desire for practical use. We spoke with many fundraisers looking for “smart tools” to help with the heavy lifting, like summarising donor meetings or automating thank you notes, so they can get back to actual fundraising. - The Grant Seeking Puzzle
We had several great discussions regarding Grant Seeking functionality. There is a clear appetite for better ways to manage the grant lifecycle and create smoother portals for seekers, a topic that is very much on our radar here at Klevr. - Infrastructure Costs
We also heard the ongoing (and important) conversations around transparency and what percentage of donations should cover the vital infrastructure that makes impact possible.
Celebrating fundraisers (and a few winners!)
It was fantastic to catch up with the team from Mater Foundation, one of our valued Klevr Fundraising clients who are just about to go live with our platform.
A huge congratulations to the following FIA delegates who won prizes in our FIA Conference stand competition!
- Gourmet Hamper: Cheryl L.
- T2 Gift Pack: Melissa M.
- Executive AI Roundtable Tickets: Sandra R., Kim B., and Olivia A.
Promotion terms and conditions for this competition can be found here.
Let’s Keep the Conversation Going
If we missed you at the stand, or if those conversations about AI and donor stewardship sparked more questions, we’d love to keep talking.
We are hosting an upcoming webinar specifically focused on how Klevr Fundraising and Agentic AI can help solve some of the common challenges we discussed in Melbourne.