Americans are more open to charity solicitations than they have been in the past five years, according to a report released Wednesday that showed an increase in trust in nonprofits, even as trust in many other institutions, such as government, the media, and businesses, is slipping.
The share of Americans willing to consider a pitch for a donation hit 38 percent in 2021, a 15.9 percent increase over 2017, according to a survey of more than 2,100 adults in the United States by the Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance.
The report showed other hopeful signs for charities eager to secure the trust of donors. The portion of Americans expressing high levels of trust increased from 2020 to 2021 in 12 of 13 causes. The only exception was environmental groups.
The survey used a 10-point scale to measure trust, with scores of nine or 10 meriting a “high level” of trust. Roughly one in five Americans reported a high level of trust in charities, a slight increase from previous years.
The impact of the pandemic, economic turmoil, and increased attention to economic and racial disparities brought greater attention to the work of nonprofits around the country, says Elvia Castro, associate director of charity evaluation at BBB’s Wise Giving Alliance.
“The fact that trust for charities is increasing tells me that the public appreciates the way that charities have handled these issue,” she says. “They’re gaining goodwill.”
The survey also found:
- In December 2021, 77.1 percent of participants trusted charities more than government and 67.5 percent trusted charities more than businesses.
- Participants who were under 40, Black, or Latino or who had contributed $1,000 were more likely than other people surveyed to express a desire to be approached more by charities. Of those participants, 71.8 percent preferred to donate to charities serving the needs of their ethnic community.
- In response to a question about the best ways to make a difference, 49.3 percent said it was donating items, 41.3 percent said donating money, 38 percent chose volunteering, and 27.2 percent picked giving to an individual directly.
Trust and Giving
Nearly half of Americans open to being approached more by nonprofits expressed high levels of trust, and the majority said they might be willing to give more to charity if approached.
Trust is a major factor in determining how and when donors decide to give to charity, says Kathleen Enright, CEO of the Council on Foundations.
The number is good news for charities, says Enright, who noted that nonprofits have been on the front lines of Covid relief and other pressing issues in recent years.
“More people in our country have had firsthand knowledge of the good work that nonprofits do over the past five years,” she says. “The more proximate you are to these great organizations, the more likely you are to know and trust them.”
Higher Trust in Most Charity Types
Religious organizations and veterans groups held the highest levels of public trust and experienced the greatest increases in trust from 2020 to 2021.
Environmental groups held the lowest levels of high public trust, at 16 percent, and were the only type of charity whose trust levels did not increase in 2021. While nonprofits have some control over public perceptions of their work, current events, and politics play important roles in how Americans view causes, says Castro.
The American withdrawal from Afghanistan led to higher levels of trust in veterans groups, she says, while the politicization of climate change has consistently jeopardized the public’s trust in environmental nonprofits. Civil-rights groups have only recently begun to recover from a major drop in public trust over the course of the Trump administration.
“A lot of that is what’s going on socially and politically,” says Castro. “It’s not necessarily speaking to what the charities themselves are doing.”
Strategies for Building Trust
Still, there are plenty of ways that nonprofits can cultivate greater trust with donors and the public. The state of charities’ finances, including administrative costs and how contributions are used, were the most important factor in determining trust, according to the survey.
Nonprofits’ reputation in their communities was a close second, with 19 percent of Americans citing groups’ track records as a major contributor to trust.
That came as no surprise to Stephen McCoy, vice president of donor relations at the Damien Center, which serves people affected by HIV and AIDS.
In recent years, the group has grown significantly with the help of volunteers and donors familiar with the nonprofit’s longtime work providing health care and other support services to the community, says McCoy.
“Some of the folks who were around at the beginning are still with this organization 35 years later,” says McCoy, who noted that the center builds relationships with volunteers by inviting them to serve in the group’s food pantry or help build HIV prevention kits.
Says McCoy: “We would have a very difficult time having an impact on our community if didn’t have that trust.”
