Future-Proofing Advertising

As the digital landscape evolves, driven by privacy shifts, AI-powered search, and changing donor behaviors, questions naturally arise about the future effectiveness of advertising.

While evolutions to donor behaviors are expected and do require adjustments to paid media strategy, the digital landscape continues to be full of opportunities for nonprofits, and organizations that adapt strategically and with intention will continue to see paid media deliver meaningful impact.

• Ads aren’t disappearing. They’re evolving, and investment is still growing. Global ad spend continues to increase year over year because advertising remains one of the most scalable ways to create demand. What’s changing is how ads are bought and measured (privacy-safe, first-party, contextual, AI-optimized), not whether they work.
  • Global advertising spend is forecast to grow by 5.1% in 2026; Worldwide investment will surpass 1 trillion USD for the first time on record. Dentsu, 2025

• Performance hasn’t declined—donor behaviors have shifted. The brands saying “ads don’t work anymore” are often relying on outdated targeting, generic creative, or last-click attribution. Companies that adapt messaging, use smarter measurement, and diversify channels (CTV, audio, search, high-quality programmatic or niche display) are still seeing strong ROI.
  • “In the Algorithmic Era the brands that win will be the ones that understand how discovery and decision making are shaped by algorithms and use media as a strategic engine to earn attention and build long term advantage. 2026 rewards the marketers who innovate with intent, design for outcomes and meet people in the moments that matter.” Dentsu, 2025

• Privacy has raised the bar, not eliminated value. The shift away from third-party cookies has rewarded brands with strong storytelling, trusted environments, and first-party data strategies. Advertising in premium, brand-safe contexts is proving more durable and effective than approaches that fully relied on third-party cookies.
  • Contextual advertising will become more relevant. This will help ensure your organization appears in spaces that align with core values. Contextual advertising placements can also be utilized in high attention channels, such as CTV. Buyers are more receptive to these ads as well, overall improving ad recall. We’ll continue to see attention metrics become increasingly important in assessing ad and audience/targeting quality.
  • Nonprofits are taking a proactive approach to their donors’ privacy by ensuring their privacy policies are up-to-date and using very clear and easy-to-understand language. Cookie consent banners are also being more widely deployed.

• AI search increases the need for advertising—it doesn’t replace it. As AI compresses organic discovery, paid media becomes one of the few reliable ways to guarantee presence, shape narrative, and drive predictable growth. Ads remain the fastest lever companies have to influence demand at scale.
  • Paid Search will be integrating with AI, not going away: “Unlike traditional search ads that appear alongside blue links, AI search ads will be rendered inside conversational answers themselves. EMARKETER defines AI search ads as “sponsored answers, brand mentions, and affiliate links embedded in AI-generated summaries or conversational responses.” Forbes, 2025
  • As advertising opportunities open up on AI tools like Perplexity and ChatGPT, new growth opportunities will emerge for nonprofits.

Future proofing our approach requires intentional strategic agility, not retreat. The above reinforces a clear takeaway: that advertising remains a durable, effective growth lever in an evolving digital ecosystem. As privacy rules, platforms, and donor behaviors shift, Avalon’s continued ability to adapt alongside these changes will enable the delivery of meaningful, measurable, impact for the nonprofit industry.