Election Won’t Hamper Charitable Giving, Says Study

Study: Survey concerning 2016 election’s impact on giving

Organization: Dunham and Company, a fundraising and marketing consulting firm, and Campbell Rinker, a marketing research company with nonprofit clients.

Summary: The survey results suggest that nonprofits need not fear that the 2016 election will hurt fundraising, as most donors are more concerned with their personal budgets than with political appeals.

Some 79 percent of donors surveyed said they would give the same amount to charitable causes in 2016 as they did in 2015, with only 14 percent reporting they would give less and 8 percent unsure. None of the donors who said they would give less reported that it was because of the election, with the majority stating that their personal financial situation was the primary reason for their reduced generosity.

Other results in the survey reveal that treating donors well is likely a more important factor in 2016 than the election and that most donors do not plan their giving.

The results were part of a Campbell Rinker Donor Confidence Survey taken from January 27 through February 1. The online survey included 400 U.S. donors who had given at least $20 in 2015.

Among other findings:

• A little more than 80 percent of donors who said they would give less said it was because of their financial situation, while 59 percent of those who said they would give more would do so because of their improved finances.
• Some 16 percent of donors said they would give more in 2016 if a charity treated them well after they gave, the second most cited reason after personal finances. Older donors were more motivated than others in the survey by how charities treated them: Twenty-two percent of people age 66 and older said this is the top reason they’d give more, compared with 18 percent of those ages 48 to 65 who said the same. Due to the finding, Dunham and Company suggests that nonprofits use best stewardship practices, such as getting a gift receipt to a donor quickly and thanking large givers by phone.
• Only 31 percent of donors said they kept a “giving budget,” with older donors and those who regularly attend religious services more likely to report this. Dunham and Company said this suggests that giving is impulse-driven.