One-Third of Americans Will Give More Amid Coronavirus Outbreak

Close to one-third of Americans plan to give more to charities in 2020, according to a special edition of the Better Business Bureau’s Give.org Donor Trust Report survey, commissioned partly to gauge donor reaction to the coronavirus pandemic.

The survey, conducted March 27 to 30, gathered responses from 1,000 U.S. adults. Of those, 31.8 percent said they planned to give more this year than their average giving rates over the past three years.

Younger generations were more willing to boost giving this year, with 47.7 percent of millennials and 60.8 percent of Generation Z participants saying they planned to increase their giving this year. Residents of urban metropolitan areas were more likely to say they planned to give more, with 36.9 percent saying so, compared with 23 percent of others.

Additionally, more than half of donors polled said they planned to keep their annual giving levels consistent over the next year. Only 8.8 percent said they intended to reduce their annual giving.

Of those who expected to give less in 2020, 45.6 percent blamed lost income due to the pandemic.

The study also found that 23.9 percent of participants expected to give money to a small business directly or through a crowdfunding effort.

Charities’ Expectations

Another aspect of the survey gathered data from 118 charities that are part of the Better Business Bureau’s Accredited Charity program. Those groups have a dim view of what’s next. Eighty percent anticipated their 2020 revenue will be lower than they had previously expected, with only 3.4 percent projecting revenue increases and only 4.2 percent expecting revenue to remain the same.

Among the other findings:

• 93.5 percent of charities anticipate donors will be less able to give.

• 69.6 percent believe they will have to cancel their big fundraising events.

• 54.4 percent believe their donors will redirect their giving toward support for individuals in need.