Two new studies of giving in Brazil and Britain show that trust in institutions remains a significant barrier to giving, as is the case generally worldwide, and that digital forms of fundraising can improve the level of trust between donors and recipient organizations.
Researchers at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy noted that digital giving allows fundraisers to provide direct feedback to donors about how their gifts are being used, which can increase trust.
“The documented growth in digital giving and shifting donor expectations in Britain and Brazil reinforce existing evidence that digital practices can help democratize the practice of philanthropy,” Amir Pasic, dean of the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, said in a news release. “Digital innovation makes philanthropy accessible and fosters greater transparency and accountability for how gifts lead to impact.”
The British study uses data collected by the Charities Aid Foundation. The other study from the Lilly school examined efforts in Brazil to expand the number of people who give to charity. Both reports found an expansion of the ways people can give and noted the power of technology to engage more people in giving regularly.
Woodrow Rosenbaum, chief data officer at GivingTuesday, agreed that technology can improve transparency and make it easier for people to give. However, Rosenbaum added that relationships among people remain a crucial component of philanthropy. For example, he noted that digital giving often involves a personal component, such as when a friend encourages someone to give to a crowdfunding campaign.
Rosenbaum, who reviewed the studies, said that fundraisers should think of digital giving as an additive source of fundraising, not a replacement for more traditional methods.
He also noted that the most prolific donors tend to give through many channels. “The most valuable donors are giving in multiple ways,” he said.
The studies are part of a new research series, “Digital for Good: A Global Study on Emerging Ways of Giving.” Future studies will look at giving in China, India, Kenya, Singapore, South Africa, and South Korea.
British Results
The British study was based on the responses of nearly 3,000 individuals collected from May to July 2021 by the Charities Aid Foundation. The study says the sample is “nationally representative of the U.K. in terms of respondents’ sex, age, region/nation, and social grade.”
Sixty percent of donors’ gifts in Britain were made online, according the study. And while younger people still give online more often than older people, those over the age of 65 made 46 percent of their donations online, according to the study.
Other findings about the British include:
- A quarter of people gave to a crowdfunding campaign in the year before the survey was taken. The most common reason was to contribute to a charity (30 percent), followed by giving to a friend or family member’s crowdfunding venture or one set up by a friend of a friend or an acquaintance (23 percent).
- 17 percent gave to a crowdfunding campaign set up by someone they did not know.
- 63 percent of people who used social media to ask their friends and family to make donations also made those requests in person. “This suggests that these two mediums reinforce each other and highlights the continued importance of interpersonal connection when requesting donations,” the study states.
- Only 7 percent of donors said their crowdfunding or social-media donation was motivated by a celebrity or social media “influencer.”
- Donations through a third-party app are the most common way to donate online, with over half of respondents who gave online in the previous 12 months saying they had made gifts through applications like JustGiving or Virgin Money Giving.
Findings From Brazil
In a separate study of giving in Brazil, the Lilly researchers outlined three case studies involving organizations established to facilitate micro-giving: Arredondar, a point-of-sale “round up for charity” NGO; BSocial, a crowdfunding platform; and Editora MOL, a social-impact publisher of magazines, books, calendars, and other materials that directs some of the revenue to charity.
Brazilians “are motivated givers and have high philanthropic sentiment,” Rosenbaum said. However, as in other countries, trust is a barrier to giving. He noted that GivingTuesday researchers have found that Brazilians are more likely than people in Britain to give directly to individuals and not to structured charities, which may reflect a higher level of institutional mistrust in Brazil.
The findings about Brazil:
- Donating in cash remains the most popular way of giving, used by 53 percent of the respondents.
- Only 17 percent of respondents said they had made some kind of online donation.
- New approaches to giving are taking hold quickly, including rounding up for a charity at the checkout counter and crowdfunding. Such practices encourage smaller, more frequent donations and are compatible with modest household budgets.
