March 13, 2009
52% of Donors Plan No Decrease in Giving in 2009
By Caroline Preston
Their investment portfolios may be slumping and their jobs less secure, but a majority of Americans who give to charity still plan to donate as much this year as they have in the past, according to a new survey.
More than 52 percent of donors said their gifts would be on par with 2008, while just 17.5 percent planned to give less.
But many Americans are still undecided about their plans for giving this year: Thirty percent of respondents said it was too soon for them to know how much they would give.
That leaves a great deal of room for the economic climate, as well as the effectiveness of fund raisers, to shape donors’ giving patterns this year.
Conducted in January by Cygnus Applied Research, the survey polled 17,365 people who had given in the past to charity. The respondents donated an average of $11,490 last year.
Most people in the survey said they had been touched in some way by the recession. More than 40 percent had lost their jobs or taken a hit in their income, while nearly 60 percent had seen their investments decrease in value.
On the whole, they were relatively pessimistic about the economy’s outlook. The largest share of respondents (39 percent) said they thought it would be at least three years before the economy recovered, while 23.4 percent felt the economy would rebound in less than two years.
But the respondents were prepared to make sacrifices to sustain their philanthropy. Of those who planned to give at least as much in 2009, 50 percent said they were willing to make compromises in other areas of their life to do so.
Most people said the recession would not affect their previous charitable commitments. Of those who were committed to a multi-year gift, 87 percent said they would pay the donations on time.
Meanwhile, donors who were forced to make cuts preferred to give smaller donations, rather than halting their support altogether.
Giving to New Groups
While a recession may not seem like the ideal time to seek out new donors, many people in the survey (42.5 percent) said they would give to a charity they had not supported in the past if someone they knew was seeking the gift. Many donors (40.3 percent) said they were also willing to give for the first time if the charity was working directly to help people hurt by the recession.
Sixteen percent said they would not consider supporting a new organization.
The study also explored whether donors would give again to nonprofit groups that were suffering significant fund-raising woes. People were more likely to make another donation for charities that were alleviating needs aggravated by the recession than they were to other kinds of charities.
Nearly 8 percent of respondents said they would not support a social-service organization if it cut services because of budget problems, while nearly 15 percent said they would stop giving to other types of charities.
Donors in the study said that, even before the recession, they were beginning to make some changes to how they gave.
For many, frequent solicitations were a big turnoff. Forty-one percent said they had stopped donating to at least one nonprofit group in the past five years because they felt overwhelmed by appeal letters, while more than a third said they were concerned organizations spent too much on fund raising.
Donors also said they were giving more to fewer causes (28.6 percent), being more thoughtful about their donations (29.4 percent), and donating more to local charities rather than national or umbrella organizations.
Among the study’s other findings:
- During the recession, online gifts and product donations are expected to become more popular, while telemarketing, door-to-door canvassing, and direct-mail appeals may be less successful.
- Starting a new capital campaign during the recession may be a challenge, as just 2.7 percent of respondents said they would give more for this type of project, while 14.6 percent said they would give less.
- Donors cited matching gifts as a big motivator to give, more so than the opportunity to participate in a monthly giving program or the chance to avoid taxes on the value of a gift by donating through an IRA.
Copies of the study, “Philanthropy in a Turbulent Economy,” will be available soon and can be ordered from http://www.cygresearch.com, e-mailing cygnus@cygresearch.com, or calling Patricia Sinka at (800) 263-0267.
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Thanks for your valuable insights. Our rapidly growing org will soon start its first ever fundraiser, a ‘special’ cookbook, and I find your timely report encouraging.
Donald Yeo, CEO, Ideal-Way.
— Donald Yeo Mar 15, 02:25 PM #
What is the margin of error in the survey’s results? How confident can we be in the data? When newspapers report on political polling, they always state the statistical margin of error. Does The Chronicle of Philanthropy have an editorial policy that requires this basic statistical measure? Should it?
— Gary Jaworski Mar 16, 08:52 AM #
Did the the survey researchers do a breakdown analysis by age? I’m curious because I’ve read that young people plan to give MORE in 2009, while “older” people – don’t know at what age this begins – plan to give less…
— Kristine Maltrud Mar 16, 02:06 PM #
Gary, the margin of error in a survey of over 17,000 adults would be tiny (much lower than the political polling quoted so often by the news media) – less than 1%. The bigger question is how the respondents were selected and who these people are. The line that concerns me is that respondents had donated an average of $11,490 last year. That definitely does not reflect the “typical” American donor in any way – so just who are the people who are included in this study? The number of interviews is meaningless if these people are not representative of a greater population, and if we don’t know what that population actually is.
— Ron Sellers Mar 16, 02:13 PM #
I attended a review of the data last week and have an initial copy of the results. I’ll include info from the report to answer some of the questions regarding validity of data and selection of participants.
Americans over the age of 18 and having made at least one bonafide gift in 2008 were invited to participate between January 12 and February 3, 2009. 963,458 donors were notified about the survey (through the assistance of 69 American NPOs who emailed their supporters or included info about the survey in their newsletters). The initial response rate was 2.8% or 21,947 donors, but some of these people did complete all 36 questions in the survey. Only participants who answered everything (17,365 or 1.8%) were included in the findings. Overall study results are considered accurate within a margin of error of +/- 0.74%.
The report does include data regarding a breakdown in age for three areas—avg/high/low gifts made previously; whether the economy has affected their situation yet; and their optimism level regarding economic recovery. The report indicates that additional reports are expected regarding gender and age differences in giving intentions. I imagine that they wanted to get the first round of data out as soon as possible so it could be put to use as quickly as possible.
Without revealing too much data, I think that I could safely say that the participants seemed to represent a broad stroke of donors in America. The average low dollar gift was $42.14 (from donors under age 35) and the average high dollar gift was $58,909 (from the top 5% of respondents). This shows quite a range of responses, and the data does break out some of the demographic groups (income, age, religious practice, giving frequency) to provide more detailed info.
So while the overall average may not reflect the “typical” donor, I think it does reflect the views of donors who are committed to the success of their favorite NPOs enough to sit down and participate in a nearly 40-question review. I would imagine that the casual donor would not invest so much time and personal information into something that they didn’t care that much about. That being said, I think it is our most avid fans that we need to focus upon during this economy. What they think and how they plan to react to the situation is very important to an organization who plans to survive the downturn and possibly even thrive.
— Michelle Wilkinson Mar 16, 03:01 PM #
Thanks Michelle and Ron for your very helpful comments.
— Gary Jaworski Mar 16, 04:27 PM #
I am very leery of the results of this survey. A great deal depends on how the questions were worded and how they were asked. Frankly, I am finding that people are quite willing to assure that they will continue to contribute at the same level, but when it comes right down to it they don’t.
— John Mar 16, 04:34 PM #
I think the additional question is the reporting of such studies. Sometimes, news sources uncritically report the information from the press release of the organization doing the study, as opposed to a journalism that questions and reports independently. One wonders what is the policy of The Chronicle of Philanthropy on such matters?
— Gary Jaworski Mar 17, 01:13 PM #
This is a very encouraging and helpful article. Thanks interpreting and sharing this research!
— Dave Hess Mar 18, 09:59 PM #