42% of Americans Say Relief Effort Damaged Faith in Nonprofit Groups

Public confidence in major charities has faltered because of the way the organizations handled

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donations following September 11, a poll commissioned by The Chronicle has found.

Forty-two percent of Americans said they had less confidence in charities now than they did before the attacks because of the way charities handled donations made for September 11 relief and recovery, while 19 percent said they had more confidence.

The changing attitude about charities could cause significant financial problems for many organizations, even those not involved in providing disaster relief: Nearly 3 in 10 of those polled said that they would be less likely to contribute to all types of charities because of the way in which September 11 funds were disbursed. Twenty-seven percent said they would be less likely to contribute to organizations that respond to major disasters.

The survey of 1,000 Americans was conducted by Harris Interactive in August and has a 3.1 percent margin of error.

Anger Over How Money Was Spent

Several major charities came under harsh criticism late last year for their handling of the huge sums raised following the terrorist attacks, and that probably accounts for the poll's findings.

Americans appear more disgruntled with charities in the Chronicle poll than they did in a recent survey by Independent Sector, a Washington organization that represents charities and foundations.

The Independent Sector survey, released last month (The Chronicle, August 15), found that 71 percent of Americans believe that the charities responding to September 11 have acted honestly and ethically in using donated funds.

Nearly two-thirds of Americans donated to charities working to help those who were affected by the September 11 attacks, according to the Chronicle survey. The average gift among those polled was $44, and 20 percent of respondents said they had given more than $100.

Americans age 35 to 54 were most likely to make donations to charities responding to the attacks. Seven in 10 Americans in that age range gave. The most generous were those age 45 to 54, a quarter of whom gave more than $100 -- the highest percentage of any age group.

Young Americans were more likely to make a large gift than were the elderly. Nineteen percent of those age 18 to 24 gave more than $100, compared with only 16 percent of those 65 or older. That might be because young Americans appear to have more confidence in charities than do the elderly. Thirty-four percent of the 18- to 24-year-olds said they had more confidence in major charities after September 11, compared with only 8 percent of those 65 or older.

Residents of the Northeast, which bore the brunt of the damage on September 11, were more likely to give than were those in any other region. Seventy-one percent of those polled in the Northeast gave to a September 11–related cause. All other regions had donation rates of 62 percent or better.

However, residents of the Northeast were also most likely to be disappointed by the charitable response to September 11. Some 48 percent of those polled in the Northeast said they had less confidence in the major charities now than they did before September 11.

White and Hispanic respondents were slightly more likely than black respondents to have made a September 11-related donation, but contribution rates among all three groups were 59 percent or higher.