Most Americans Oppose Charity Disclosure of Information on Donors, Study Finds

Eighty-five percent of Americans don’t want charities to sell their names

and addresses to other nonprofit groups or to businesses, according to a poll conducted for the Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance.

In a wide-ranging survey of 2,000 Americans, the charity-watchdog group found that, in addition to worries about donor privacy, Americans are concerned about how much nonprofit groups spend on programs, and the effectiveness of those programs.

Seventy-eight percent of those surveyed said charitable organizations should spend at least 70 percent of donations on programs, rather than on administrative costs or fund raising, and 7 of 10 Americans said they based their giving on how effective a charity’s programs were.

The poll was conducted in the spring — before the September 11 terrorist attacks prompted an outpouring of giving and could have reshaped Americans’ views of charities.

The strong resistance Americans show toward a common charity practice — disclosing names and addresses of donors — has prompted the watchdog group to consider reviewing nonprofit policies on confidentiality as part of its examination of fund-raising and governance practices.

“A nonprofit organization has to be very conscientious of donor concern of how information will be used outside that organization,” said Art Taylor, chief executive officer of the Wise Giving Alliance, which was formed this year by the merger of the National Charities Information Bureau and the Council of Better Business Bureaus’ Philanthropic Advisory Service.

In its report on the survey results, the alliance noted that, “even when reminded that selling donor lists can be an important source of additional income for a charity, 82 percent of adults say charities should always give donors the option of taking their name off of any list that might be shared with an outside organization.”

Proposed Standards

Mr. Taylor said the privacy issue would be reviewed by a committee of officials from nonprofit organizations, foundations, corporate-giving programs, and state regulators who are working on a proposal to revise the standards that the alliance uses to evaluate charities.

He said the survey results suggested that the alliance might need to make changes in areas besides privacy.

Noting that the alliance flunks charities that spend less than half of their money on programs, Mr. Taylor said the survey shows that the watchdog group might need to recommend that a higher percentage of funds go to programs. “Clearly we’re going to have to make adjustments to address the public’s concerns,” he said, “but the public needs to be educated more about the costs of running a nonprofit.” He urged charitable groups to explain to donors that money spent on administrative needs helps programs be more efficient.

Accumulating Assets

Another potential new standard would recommend that charities not stockpile a large amount of donations for future needs. Mr. Taylor said that nearly two-thirds of respondents wanted nonprofit groups to spend donations quickly rather than saving the money.

In addition, the bureau is considering asking charities to provide data about the success of their programs — something it had not previously asked for.

The Better Business Bureau plans to release draft standards next month and allow the public and charities to comment on them.

“We want them to feel these are standards that nonprofit organizations can live by,” said Mr. Taylor.

Internet Donations

The survey also looked at how much donors use the Internet, though that data will not affect the revision of the standards.

According to the survey, only 6 percent of respondents said they had made an online donation of $10 or more, while 22 percent said they would consider making an online donation in the future. Some of those surveyed said they were reluctant to give online because of concerns about the security of online financial transactions.

A higher percentage of people — 31 percent — said they would use the Web to find out information about charities rather than for donations. “The Internet is more of an information tool than a giving tool,” said Bennett Weiner, the Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance’s chief operating officer. But, he noted, that may be changing now that more than $100-million has been donated online in the weeks since the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Almost 9 in 10 Americans — 86 percent — said they had donated money or property during the previous year. Sixty-five percent said they gave to their place of worship, while 73 percent said they donated outside of their place of worship. Other highlights from the survey:

Trust. Forty-five percent of respondents said they have the same level of trust in charities as they did 10 years ago, while 16 percent trust them more and 36 percent trust them less. In a similar survey conducted in 1993, which asked the same question, 29 percent said they had the same level of trust as they did a decade earlier, 15 percent said they had more, and 52 percent said they had less.

The high level of distrust for charities at that time was attributed to the United Way of America scandal, in which the organization’s president, William Aramony, was fired in 1992 for fraudulently spending, with two of his colleagues, more than $1.2-million on luxury travel, vacations, and other perks.

In the recent survey, people also expressed varying degrees of trust in different types of nonprofit groups.

Religious organizations received the highest percentage of support, with 47 percent of respondents saying they trust them “a lot.” Civil-rights and “community action” groups received the least amount, with 16 percent saying they trust them “a lot.”

Other groups that the Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance says received “below average trust ratings” are hospitals and other health-related nonprofit organizations, arts and cultural groups, and environmental organizations.

Legitimacy. Forty-four percent said it was difficult to find information to determine if a charity is legitimate, says the report, while 49 percent said it was easy to do so.

Donation decisions. Fifty percent of the respondents said they were likely to use information from a charity to make a donation decision; 47 percent said they were likely to talk to friends and family for information; 42 percent said they were likely to get information from the Better Business Bureau; 31 percent from research organizations’ Web sites; 25 percent from the news media; 24 percent from government agencies; and 21 percent from lawyers and accountants.

Sixty-eight percent said they looked for information on charities before they gave, while 28 percent said they would give to a group unless they heard or read comments that would make them question a group’s legitimacy.

Seventy-two percent said they had difficulty choosing between charities that support similar causes.

A third of the respondents said they were “very confident” in their ability to evaluate charities, 51 percent said they were “somewhat confident,” and 16 percent were “not too confident” or “not at all confident.”

Princeton Survey Research Associates conducted the telephone survey, which was designed to produce a random sampling of U.S. adults. The survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.

Grants from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation ($75,000), the Surdna Foundation ($75,000), and the Sony U.S.A. Foundation ($10,000) paid for the survey.

To order a free copy of the “Donor Expectations Survey,” contact the Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance at (703) 276-0100; fax (703) 525-8277; or send mail orders to 4200 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 800, Arlington, Va. 22203.

The survey results are also available on the organization’s Web site, http://www.give.org.

HOW AMERICANS VIEW CHARITY ACCOUNTABILITY AND SPENDING

Trustworthiness of Charities

Percentage of a Charity’s Budget People Want Spent on Programs