Founation Giving Trends, 2001

March 20, 2003 | Read Time: 2 minutes

HOW AMERICANS DECIDE TO GIVE AND HOW MUCH THEY DONATE
		By race			By age					By annual income
	Total	Caucasian	African-American	Hispanic	18-25	26-37	38-56	57-72	73 and older	Less than $30,000	$30,000 to $49,999	$50,000 o $74,999	$75,000 or more
Types of organizations supported
Health	53%	54%	45%	44%	44%	46%	53%	58%	62%	48%	51%	55%	61%
Religious	50%	51%	53%	42%	42%	44%	48%	58%	57%	50%	51%	52%	45%
Children’s	41%	41%	42%	40%	47%	42%	42%	40%	35%	34%	43%	42%	52%
Food and hunger	38%	39%	30%	35%	26%	35%	42%	42%	37%	34%	35%	46%	42%
Homeless and shelters	32%	32%	31%	34%	34%	31%	34%	33%	27%	32%	27%	35%	38%
Safety and disaster relief	44%	45%	32%	40%	32%	43%	45%	47%	45%	41%	41%	46%	48%
Education	27%	27%	26%	22%	24%	30%	30%	21%	23%	22%	22%	31%	35%
Animals and the environment	23%	24%	14%	18%	21%	23%	25%	20%	21%	20%	22%	25%	27%
Political	14%	14%	9%	15%	11%	10%	13%	18%	22%	12%	14%	12%	19%
None of these	4%	4%	5%	6%	4%	5%	5%	3%	4%	6%	3%	4%	3%
How donors learned about a charitable appeal they supported
Church	50%	51%	57%	39%	40%	47%	49%	59%	55%	48%	51%	53%	50%
Special event	44%	44%	42%	44%	49%	44%	48%	39%	33%	37%	41%	49%	55%
Direct mail	42%	42%	36%	39%	31%	34%	43%	47%	51%	38%	44%	40%	46%
Friends or relatives	36%	35%	39%	44%	42%	38%	36%	33%	35%	36%	34%	36%	40%
Employer-sponsored program	21%	21%	24%	25%	25%	30%	26%	10%	2%	13%	22%	26%	29%
Telethons	13%	13%	16%	10%	15%	10%	16%	13%	8%	14%	15%	13%	11%
Telemarketers	9%	9%	12%	10%	8%	13%	11%	8%	3%	9%	10%	9%	9%
Through the Internet	5%	5%	5%	8%	11%	5%	5%	2%	2%	3%	9%	5%	5%
Infomercials	2%	2%	2%	2%	1%	2%	2%	3%	2%	2%	2%	2%	2%
None of these	7%	8%	5%	8%	8%	6%	7%	8%	11%	10%	7%	6%	4%
Don’t know	1%	1%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	1%	1%	1%	0%	0%	1%
How contributions to charity changed in the past year
Stayed the same or decreased	73%	73%	68%	79%	67%	72%	73%	76%	81%	80%	75%	70%	64%
Stayed the same	63%	63%	57%	69%	61%	63%	60%	67%	70	67%	65%	60%	57%
Increased significantly or slightly	26%	26%	31%	20%	32%	27%	27%	23%	16%	18%	25%	30%	35%
Increased slightly	19%	19%	23%	14%	22%	19%	21%	19%	13%	13%	19%	23%	27%
Decreased	11%	11%	11%	10%	5%	9%	13%	9%	12%	13%	10%	10%	8%
Increased significantly	6%	6%	8%	6%	10%	9%	6%	4%	3%	5%	6%	7%	9%
Don’t know	1%	1%	1%	1%	2%	0%	1%	1%	3%	2%	1%	0%	0%

WHAT DONORS SAY IS MOST IMPORTANT IN DECIDING WHAT CHARITIES TO SUPPORT
	Importance on a scale of 1-10
How an organization spends donated funds	7.1
Organization’s mission or goal	7.1
How an organization helps local area	6.5
Details on how their specific donation will be used	6.5
Charity providing a statement showing what donation pays for	6.4
Information on why donations are needed	6.1
Statistics on the number of people their donation helps	5.9
Stories on people who have been helped	5.4
Information on how donor can can help, beyond cash donations	5.3
Summary of progress an organization has made in the past year	4.9
Receiving small thank-you gifts for donating	2.7
Note: Donors were asked to rank each item on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 signifying the most important factor.
SOURCE: Vertis Customer Focus 2002

WHO GIVES TO MULTIPLE ORGANIZATIONS AND WHO RESPONDS TO DIRECT MAIL
	Contributors to 1-5 organizations	Direct-mail solicitation response
Gender
Male	47%	43%
Female	53%	57%
Age
18-25	13	8
26-37	22	17
38-56	38	39
57-72	19	23
73 and older	8	12
Average age	45.8	50.4
Income
Less than $30,000	37%	33%
$30,000 to $49,999	25%	25%
$50,000 to $74,999	19%	18%
$75,000 or more	19%	25%
Average income	$50,140	$56,040
Race
Caucasian	78%	81%
African-American	9%	7%
Hispanic	9%	7%
Asian	2%	2%
Other	2%	2%
Profession
White collar/manager/professional	35%	36%
Working women	31%	33%
Retired	21%	29%
Blue collar/operative worker	15%	11%
Education
High school or less	40%	33%
Some college or more	60%	69%
SOURCE: Vertis Customer Focus 2002