At the February 2016 New Zealand rowing championships, she took out her first national title with a premier women's crew. She won silver with Hyde in the double scull, and became national champion with the quad scull. In March 2016, Donoghue was announced as a member of the New Zealand Rowing Team, with a seat in the women's quad (alongside Georgia Perry, Lucy Spoors, and Sarah Gray) that had yet to qualify for the 2016 Summer Olympics. She competed at the Final Qualification regatta at the Rotsee near Lucerne, Switzerland, in May 2016 where they failed to qualify in third place as only two boats advanced to the Olympics.