Latest Survey on Why Donors Give
The new DonorGraphics study is out from One & All and it’s full of interesting data on stated donor preferences.
One of the survey questions asked donors what is their main reason for giving charitably.. Possible responses were:
- To address/impact needs in my local community
- To address/impact needs worldwide
- To fund organizations that enrich my life
- To support a cause that has affected me or a loved one
- To feel a connection to a cause or community
- To right ”the wrongs” in society
- I feel a responsibility to give back or tithe
- Other
Everyone, please have your guesses ready. Did you pick the most popular primary reason? OK, drum roll please…
It won’t surprise frequent Agitator readers that #1 was “to support a cause that has affected me or a loved one,” the chosen answer of 23% of respondents. This was #1 across age groups except for those 21 and under. This is potentially because younger people have not yet had enough time to be impacted by some of the issues our nonprofits address. For example, is a 20-year-old or a 50-year-old more likely to have a spouse who has heart disease, a special needs school-aged child, or someone who has receive chemotherapy at a nonprofit hospital? While there are some exceptions (those impacted by gun violence, sadly, spring immediately to mind), life is a series of experiences and you are more likely to have had more experience the longer you have lived.
It’s telling that donor identity – being personally affected by an issue plus those who “feel a connection to a cause or community” – covers over a third of all donors where their primary reason to give is concerned. We have usually talked about identity in the context of the reason donors choose among organizations (for example, the University of Kent’s study about how donors choose among nonprofits and how donors will choose their identity over the nonprofit’s effectiveness).
But the DonorGraphics study goes a bit further – it says that not only is identity a reason for donors to choose a nonprofit, but it is also a compelling reason why people begin donating in the first place. Powerful stuff.
There are many other good data points I won’t spoil about why people give and beyond, including how things change by ideology, what reasons skew younger, and how the other reasons ranked (OK, I’ll actually also spoil #2 at 21% – a responsibility to give back or tithe, something that also diminishes as donors get younger – but no more!).
Rather, I’ll recommend One & All’s free webinar with the TNPA about why donors give. It’s on the 12th; hope you enjoy.
Nick
* For those looking for the survey data fine print, the study was conducted among 2,667 U.S. adults, ages 18+, representative of the general population. 1,488 respondents were identified as 12-month active donors of nonprofit organizations (excluding churches/houses of worship and political campaigns), the demos of which are representative of charitable donors. The maximum margin of error for the study is +/- 1.9 & 2.5 percentage points for U.S. online adults and active donors respectively, at the 95% level of confidence. Generational views use Pew Research 2018 definitions due to Q1 2019 fielding, with the “silent” & “greatest” generations combined into a “senior” segment due to small sample size for the latter.
3 responses to “Latest Survey on Why Donors Give”
Behavioral Science Q & A
Integrating an individual giving appeal with other communications from a charity can have both positive and negative effects, and the outcome largely depends on how it’s executed. Advantages of Integration Brand Consistency: Maintaining a consistent appearance and messaging across all communications can reinforce the org’s brand identity and strengthen brand recognition and trust among your […]
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I’m not aware of any in-market tests specifically comparing recurring vs. gift frequency language. I suspect the answer might not be the same with all gift frequencies, nor with all people. It sounds like a great opportunity for you to test and find out what works for your audience. Based on the literature, here’s a couple […]
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Based on what we know from existing data, those renewal notices can actually be pretty effective in getting people to donate. They tap into our psychology – creating a sense of urgency, reminding us of past support, and using personalization to make the message hit home. They’re playing on our natural tendencies to feel obligated […]
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Interesting question. I had a quick look at the testing done on this topic. On the positive side, in all cases, over half of donors decide to cover the fee. In some cases, it goes as high as 65%. Not a negligible percentage at all. Here’s another test from iRaiser showing consistent results (see point […]
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There’s just one thing to consider when designing a supporter journey: the supporter. More specifically, you need to take into account: Who the supporter is i.e. their identity, which is the reason they support this cause, and their personality, which describes the way they “see” and process the world. These will determine the kind of […]
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I’m not an expert in this but a quick search surfaced this article on the effect of tax reforms on 2019’s charitable giving. The researchers didn’t find a reduction. Actually, they observed an “increase in charitable contributions in 2019, even with the lower tax rates and the dramatically smaller number of taxpayers who itemize their […]
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While I appreciate One & All for conducting the study, I think we need to be careful when trying to understand the results. For example, Nick writes, “There are many other good data points I won’t spoil about why people give…” That’s not quite accurate. The study does not report on “why people give.” Instead, it examines why people SAY they give. This is an important distinction. Responses will be subject to social desirability bias. Also, respondents are largely limited to the response options provided which might not accurately represent their thinking.
If I had been surveyed, I would have had difficulty answering why I give. I support my favorite charity to “address a need in my local community.” However, that really doesn’t describe my motivation though it does describe the outcome of my giving. My motivation has more to do with helping the helpless. In any case, neither I nor a loved one have personally been affected by the cause. By contrast, I do support another charity that has affected my life. I could be giving to that organization either because I was affected by the cause or because I want to give back.
In other words, the survey question responses will depend on how the survey participant thought about the questions as well as the response options.
I have no doubt that the survey report will offer some useful insights, especially when combined with findings from other research. However, we need to understand the limitations of such a survey and be careful about how we interpret the results.
A good point. People lack metacognition, so we are generally bad at explaining why we did a thing. I don’t know that social desirability bias would enter in here as much, because I don’t know that there’s a more socially desirable reason to give than another. It’s a significant problem when asking someone if or whether they give because there’s a strong incentive to say you do give to a good cause. But the inability to know one’s own true reasons is a significant one. My favorite study that I read about recently is they asked one group of romantic partners if they would still be together in 6-9 months. They asked the other to really think about the reasons they would or would not be together, then answer. The first group – gut answers – was highly correlated with whether they actually were still together. Those who had to go through reasons — no correlation. Trying to think about the why messed up their predictive ability. So I take your point and agree that this is a good but imperfect gauge of sentiment. (It also gives me a chance to plug DonorVoice’s National Commitment Study that takes the guesswork out of a lot of this by imputing the weight donors give to reasons, touchpoints, branding, etc., rather than asking it flat out. That’s at http://www.thedonorvoice.com/donor-commitment-national-study-results-presentation/)
Great insight – and “connection” is an important point to remember when creating campaigns. I’ve always found that the most successful campaigns where the ones that fostered this sense of connection, even when there were some stats or benefits that seemed of utmost importance – it’s key to make sure it feels personal.