Food Banks and Animal-Rights Groups Rank High Among Nonprofits Young Americans Support in Covid Crisis

During the coronavirus pandemic, young adults say they have made donations to food banks, animal-rights groups and health-care advocacy organizations over other causes, according to a survey released Wednesday.

But just 12 percent of young people say they are giving cash to any kind of group, according to the third edition of a four-part series of surveys from the Cause and Social Influence project, which seeks to measure how young adults get involved with social issues and movements. The project polled 1,049 Americans ages 18 to 30 on May 15.

Beyond examining donation habits, the survey also found that many young people are not comfortable engaging in public activities, including volunteering and attending charity fundraising events, due to the coronavirus. Forty-nine percent said they did not feel safe attending special events run by nonprofits. Forty-eight percent said they were uncomfortable volunteering in person.

When asked what actions they had taken in the previous three weeks “to support or help other people,” the most common answer was “nothing at the current moment,” with 31 percent responding so. But “significantly” increasing their patronage of local businesses was the most common response after that, with 25 percent saying so.

“These results reinforce a broadening philanthropic mind-set among this demographic,” reads the survey report. “They are defining support in ways consistent with a decade of research showing that young Americans view all their assets as being of equal value.”

Donating Goods and Services

Smaller percentages contributed to charity than patronized businesses.

Only 16 percent of young adults said they had contributed goods, 15 percent said they had donated their professional services, and 12 percent said they had made a charitable donation to a cause or an organization. Seven percent said they had volunteered in person, and another 7 percent said they had volunteered online.

Among those who donated money or goods, when asked to list the types of groups they’d engaged with, 32 percent said they had contributed to a food bank, 31 percent to an animal-rights group, and 30 percent to health-care advocacy groups.

The last time this survey was conducted, April 17, only 26 percent said they had donated to a food bank, while 34 percent had given to groups working to overhaul health care.

Among those who volunteered, 43 percent said they had done so for animal-rights groups, 38 percent for civil-rights or anti-racial-discrimination groups, and 36 percent for climate-change groups.