With pessimism about the economy building, a new survey suggests that a growing share of donors are thinking about pulling back on their giving in the year ahead.
In an April survey of donors who gave more than $20 to charity in the past year, 24 percent said they intend to give less this year or that they are unsure of their giving, compared with 21 percent in a survey conducted in July of 2021.
Sixty-three percent of donors say they plan to be more cautious in their giving this year, compared with 59 percent last year, and 9 percent said they will not give again until the economy is back on track.
“Donors express more caution in their giving today than a year ago, and they express a significant degree of pessimism about their giving in the future,” according to a report summarizing the poll findings.
The online survey of 1,400 adults was conducted by the research firm Campbell Rinker and sponsored by Dunham & Company, a Texas-based consultancy focused on nonprofits. The report says the survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.6 percent.
Rick Dunham, CEO of Dunham & Company, said the survey results indicate the highest level of pessimism among donors since his firm started conducting the survey in 2008. “The economy and the cost of living are weighing on donors in terms of their ability to give,” he said. “It’s having a negative impact.”
The top reasons donors cited for giving less were their personal financial situation, at 41 percent, inflation (a new option in this year’s survey), at 35 percent, and the economy generally, at 13 percent. Last year the top reason for giving less was donors’ personal financial situation, at 55 percent, and the economy, at 19 percent.
Stock-Market Worries
Patrick Rooney, an economist who studies philanthropy at Indiana University’s Lilly School of Philanthropy, said that he would have expected donors to be even more pessimistic given current economic trends. “It is surprising that more households did not express more uncertainty,” he wrote in an email.
The share of donors who say the stock market has negatively affected their giving rose to 19 percent this year from 7 percent last year. Fifty-three percent of donors said they were unsure about what lies ahead for the economy or they believe it will decline in the coming year, compared with 36 percent a year ago.
“It makes sense that the stock market moving into a bear market (20 percent or more reduction from recent peaks) would have a deleterious effect on attitudes about giving, especially for those 45 years and older,” Rooney said. “They are planning on those stocks as being at least part of their ability to retire and their ability to be philanthropically generous.”
Rooney added that it was encouraging that 98 percent of donors said that they are planning to continue giving some amount next year, and the low unemployment rate is another good sign for giving.
Eighteen percent of donors said they plan to give less in 2022 than in 2021, 55 percent said they plan to give the same amount, and 21 percent plan to give more.
Other data from the survey:
- 70 percent of donors say they have given online, up from 65 percent last year and 58 percent in 2016.
- Among donors who haven’t given online before, 41 percent said they would consider doing so in the future, while 59 percent said they would not.
- 47 percent of donors said U.S. charities are doing a good job, and 14 percent said they’re doing an excellent job. Thirty percent said they’re doing a fair job, 4 percent said they’re doing a poor job, and 5 percent were unsure.
- Among donors who expect to give more this year, 26 percent said they will be doing so because of their personal financial situation, 22 percent cited the needs of a specific charity, and 15 percent cited the conflict in Ukraine.
- 59 percent of donors are very or somewhat likely to volunteer this year. Only 3 percent said they have already volunteered this year.
