Election Giving Won't Take Big Toll on Charities

October 09, 2008

Election Giving Won't Take Big Toll on Charities

While the economy is the biggest concern for most fund raisers, others are worried that election-relation giving could be diverting donations to charity.

A new survey of 1,000 adults conducted at the end of last month suggests fund raisers can stop worrying about political giving.

Nearly eight in 10 Americans, 78 percent, said that they will not be contributing to either the McCain or Obama campaign in coming weeks. That figure grew to 85 percent among a key group of potential donors, those aged 55 to 64.

Among those who do plan to contribute to the campaigns, 63 percent said that doing so would not limit their charitable donations, according to the survey released this week by Dunham + Company, a Dallas marketing and fund-raising consulting firm.

However, the effects of the election appear to be more pronounced among Democrats than Republicans: Thirteen percent of Democrats said that they would contribute to the Obama campaign and, as a result, reduce their charitable gifts. Only 7 percent of Republican respondents said the same about their gifts to the McCain campaign.

Meanwhile, more of the survey respondents, 46 percent, reported that the economy had already cut into their charitable giving. Looking ahead to coming weeks, 26 percent said that they would be giving less than usual to charities.

— Holly Hall

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Election Giving Won't Take Big Toll on Charities