Almost one-third of nonprofit supporters — 31 percent — said they will give more to charity this year, with millennials especially planning to dig deeper than they have before, according to a recent survey.
Among the top motivations for increased giving: Donors’ improved financial situations and the election of President Trump.
Fifty-two percent said they would donate the same amount, and 6 percent said they would decrease their philanthropy. Some 11 percent said they were unsure, according to a preview of the annual Burk Donor Survey, a study of more than 13,500 donors that was conducted from February to April.
The Chronicle viewed the preliminary findings of the survey in a webinar on Tuesday. The full 90-plus page report will be released in mid-August, said Penelope Burk, president of Cygnus Applied Research, a Chicago-based firm that conducts the annual survey of U.S. donors.
“The climate is good,” Ms. Burk in an email to The Chronicle on Thursday, noting that in 2016 only 22 percent of respondents said they planned to give more than in the previous year.
Still, she says optimism might be tempered by the fact that many donors appear to be motivated by last year’s election results. “Politically motivated increased giving likely cannot be sustained,” she said.
Although groups like the American Civil Liberties Union and Planned Parenthood saw a flood of contributions after Mr. Trump’s win, Ms. Burk noted that “few donors who quickly come to the aid of a not-for-profit in a crisis go on to become permanent donors at increasing giving levels.” The survey allowed respondents to select multiple options to some questions.
Millennial Support
Sixty-nine percent of donors under 35 said they gave more in 2016 than they did in 2015 — a much higher percentage than older respondents.
That signals that there may be an opportunity for nonprofits to attract more young donors in the coming years — a goal many groups see as urgent because of their aging donor bases.
Although young donors tend to give in small amounts, Ms. Burk urged fundraisers to keep their eyes on the long-term prospects. “If you could put aside their gift value and focus on their future potential as donors, that would be much more productive,” she said in a webinar on the findings.
A Rise in Recurring Gifts
There’s been a big leap forward in the past five years in young donors joining sustaining-gift programs, Ms. Burk notes. In 2016, 35 percent of supporters under 35 were part of a recurring-gift program, up from 23 percent in 2012.
“I think it reflects a substantial effort on behalf of not-for-profits to engage young donors in monthly or recurring giving, either through peer-to-peer fundraising or through some other method,” she said.
About 52 percent of respondents of all ages said they have at least one recurring gift arrangement set up with a nonprofit. That’s a big jump from 2012, when only 29 percent did. The average monthly gift is $46.
But many recurring supporters seem weary of appeals to give more: Forty-one percent said they couldn’t afford the most recent request from a charity to increase their payments. In 2012, only 29 percent of respondents said the same.
That could be because many more young donors are making these kinds of commitments, Ms. Burk said. “They aren’t yet in a position to significantly increase their gifts,” she said.
Still, 83 percent report that they are either satisfied or very satisfied with their experience in recurring-gift programs.
In addition, 30 percent of all donors who make sustaining gifts said they agreed or strongly agreed that they were more likely to consider making a big gift to nonprofits they support through recurring-gift commitments than to groups they give to in other ways.
Thirty-one percent said the same about bequests.
Nonprofits that run such programs should work with their major-gift and planned-gift teams to determine if indeed monthly donors tend to give more down the line, Ms. Burk said: “That would be really revealing.”
Donor-Advised Funds: Mixed Signals
For fundraisers worried that donor-advised funds — charitable accounts that allow donors to benefit from tax deductions immediately and make grants later — are diverting gifts away from nonprofits, the survey offers some reassuring figures:
- Of the 5 percent of donors who report having an account, 54 percent said they now donate more since opening it, and 44 percent said they give the same amount. Only 2 percent reported that they donate less.
- Ninety-six percent of account holders said they still make direct-cash and other gifts to charities in addition to making grants from their accounts.
- Some 17 percent said they would be motivated to make more grants if they received compelling information from a nonprofit about the results of a previous donation.
- Twelve percent said they’d be motivated to contribute more if a matching gift were available.
Won’t Change Minds
There were also less reassuring numbers about donor-advised funds:
- Although some account holders said nonprofits could persuade them to increase their giving, more than half said they couldn’t.
- About 15 percent of account holders said they have not made any grants since opening their funds. Thirty-one percent of those said it’s because there’s no required time frame for making gifts, and 27 percent said it’s because they consider the account a “legacy” fund.
- A fourth of account holders said they sometimes give anonymously; 3 percent said they always do. Anonymous grants make it difficult for fundraisers to thank and retain supporters.
Giving in 2016
The Burk Donor Survey also gives fundraisers at look back at charity supporters’ activities last year. Among the findings:
- Fifty-one percent of supporters said they gave more in 2016 than in the previous year, higher than the 40 percent who said they did the same in 2015. Forty percent said they gave the same amount in 2016 as they did in 2015, and 8 percent donated less.
- Forty-one percent of donors who gave more in 2016 said they did so because they were impressed by a nonprofit’s work, while 33 percent said they responded to a “special request.”
- Direct mail remained a force last year: Forty-eight percent of respondents said they gave by mail, the most common type of transaction. That’s more than the 39 percent who said they gave online or in response to email in 2015.
