Giving sentiment in the United States continues to hold up and its resilience is shown through quarterly surveys conducted during the 12-month period preceding this holiday season. Survey data shows “giving sentiment remains strong in the U.S., with more than 60% of respondents reporting some form of giving during each of our surveys,” wrote researchers at GivingTuesday in New York City, in a report of data for the third quarter ending Sept. 30.
Giving money (66%) and items (72%) were found to be the most popular forms of giving, followed by time (44%) with considerable crossover between them as shown by the 25% of respondents who gave all three. The same crossover was observed with respect to gift recipients as 68% of respondents reported giving to registered organizations, 63% to unregistered groups, and 61% to individuals with 38% giving to all three.
The GivingPulse quarterly report was compiled from responses by 5,200 people across the United States, with a unique pool of 100 respondents queried each week throughout the year. It’s the first of what GivingTuesday leaders announced will be an ongoing project designed to track giving behavior over time, which will be detailed via continuing quarterly reports. Unlike studies that typically track generosity by dollars given, this project is intended to provide insight into the often unseen behaviors and attitudes that influence long-term giving. The initial report focuses on giving behaviors in the United States, which will be expanded to include other countries in the future.
“Empowering changemakers and giving them voice across the full giving landscape is critical,” said Woodrow Rosenbaum, chief data officer for GivingTuesday. “That’s why GivingPulse goes beyond just financial donations to capture all types of giving behavior, offering new perspectives and illuminating timely trends in the social sector.”
Researchers went on to group respondents into one of three composite generosity profiles based on giving behaviors. High-generosity givers (14%), they found, tend to follow an annual giving budget that supports formal giving arrangements via automated donations to established charities. Medium-generosity givers (33%) tend to give more spontaneously to people and organizations and in response to world events such as last August’s wildfires in Maui, Hawaii, which were found to be a top concern among respondents. Low-generosity givers (52%) tend to be less consistent with no discernible preference for one giving mode over another.
“A defining characteristic of the medium-generosity group is that they often give without being asked,” wrote the authors. “This is especially interesting given that fewer respondents in this group reported being solicited (55%) compared to those in the high-generosity group (69%). This is a real opportunity for nonprofits: Increasing targeted outreach to medium-generosity groups can increase the breadth of donor pools.”
Predictably, higher-income individuals and those who are highly religious were more likely to be found among the higher-generosity group and were also more likely to give out of a sense of guilt. Other demographic characteristics were far less predictive and tended not to vary much between giving groups.
“The majority of respondents felt that everyone has a responsibility to give and to help those in need,” wrote the authors. However, “just over half (51%) of all respondents reported that donating money to charities provides too much of a financial strain on them. Interestingly, this feeling is highest among the medium-generosity group (62%), although there’s a strong consensus among this group that they enjoy giving to nonprofits (89%), suggesting their enjoyment of giving outweighs their financial concerns.”
The survey instrument and report were generated by the GivingTuesday Data Commons team, which includes data scientists and others with advanced degrees, with input from faculty at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy and other institutions. The next GivingPulse report will build on these findings with data from the fourth quarter including the 2023 giving season. Included will be an analysis of this year’s GivingTuesday results and how nonprofits can leverage this momentum into the new year.
“With this information, changemakers, nonprofits, and researchers can more effectively engage with shifting giving sentiment and better understand the landscape of generosity in which they reside,” Rosenbaum said. “Partners across the sector always ask who gives what, and to whom, and with GivingPulse, they’ll now have regular, up-to-date answers that can guide giving strategies.”
