Survey Finds Sharp Drop in Number of People Who Donated to Charity

The percentage of Americans who made gifts to charity last year dropped sharply: 77 percent said they supported charities, according to a newly released poll, compared with 87 percent in 2001.

The drop was most pronounced among donors with household incomes of $75,000 or less. Eighty-four percent of people with household incomes of $50,000 to $75,000 made gifts last year, compared with 97 percent in 2001. Seventy-nine percent of people with household incomes of $30,000 to $50,000 made gifts, while 93 percent had given in 2001.

People who make $75,000 or more continued to give steadily to charities. Ninety percent contributed last year, compared with 94 percent in 2001.

The survey, now in its second year, was conducted in April and May by a Pittsburgh research company, Marshall Marketing and Communications, for Vertis, an advertising and marketing company in Baltimore. People were asked about their giving habits in the 12 months before the survey.

Among the survey’s other findings:

• Health organizations were the most likely recipients of gifts, with 53 percent of respondents saying they gave to such charities. Religious organizations were the second most popular, followed by children’s groups. Animal and environmental groups had the fewest contributions. While these preferences did not vary from 2001, food and hunger groups and safety and disaster relief charities saw the greatest increase in the number of donors.
• In the survey 73 percent of respondents reported reading some type of direct mail. Of those people, 55 percent said they had read charity direct-mail appeals, a statistic that has held steady in the past year. But the survey also found that the percentage of people who never read any kind of mail advertising appears to be on the rise. Telephone interviews last spring with a random sampling of 2,000 adults found that 27 percent do not read direct mail, up from 23 percent the year before.
• Eighty-two percent of adults ages 57 to 72 contributed to charity during the 12 months prior to May 2002, followed by 81 percent of adults 38 to 56, and 76 percent of adults ages 26 to 37. Thirty-five percent of adults ages 18 to 25 said they contributed nothing to charity in the past year.
• Church solicitations were most likely to spur people to give, followed by special fund-raising event, and mail appeal. Internet appeals or infomercials were the least likely to prompt donations.
• In deciding what charity to support, donors reported, the most important factors are knowing how an organization spends its donations and having information about its mission, followed by how the group’s work helps a local area and information on how the donor’s contribution will be spent. Least important were reports on the organization’s progress over the past year and receiving a small thank-you gift for the donation.

Scott Marden, director of strategic marketing for Vertis, notes that the survey found some surprises about charity solicitations. It found that men ages 26 to 37 years old, women in their 30s and 40s, and women with high incomes were most likely to donate in response to a mail appeal. The high number of male donors is especially interesting, he says, because young men do not “traditionally respond” to mail appeals.

The survey also found a drop in the percentage of people over age 73 who read direct-mail appeals. In 2002, 45 percent of people in that age group read the appeals, compared with 55 percent in 2001.

Income was a factor when deciding which charity to support. People who earned less than $50,000 were most likely to support religious groups, while people who earned more than $50,000 steered the majority of gifts to health charities.

On at least one element in the survey — the percentage of all Americans who give — the results appear to differ from those in the Independent Sector report on giving, which is one of the principal sources of data on the topic.

While the Vertis survey found that 77 percent of adults reported contributing to at least one charity in the past 12 months, Independent Sector’s most recent report found that about 90 percent of all households donated money in 2000.

Free copies of “Vertis Customer Focus 2002: Direct Marketing for the Nonprofit Sector” can be obtained from Mr. Marden at 18 Carriage Lane, Shirley, Mass. 01464; (978) 425-4308; smarden@vertisinc.com.