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Generations define ‘charity impact’ differently
By Bobby Hansen - Better Business Bureau
Jul. 11, 2021 9:00 am, Updated: Jul. 22, 2021 4:30 pm
Almost half of adult Americans are unclear about what “charity impact” means, according to new survey research by the Better Business Bureau’s Give.org, charity evaluation group.
The Give.org Donor Trust’s “Special Report: Charity Impact” provides survey results of more than 2,100 adults in the United States, as well as a separate survey of more than 1,000 adults in Canada, and explores how individual donors perceive charity impact.
It showed that we need to be aware not only of what charities say but also of what potential donors hear. When it comes to the term “charity impact,” it turns out different generations may respond to different messages.
Forty-seven percent of survey participants state they were either unclear or did not know what “charity impact” meant. The remaining 53 percent of respondents claimed they knew what it meant when talking about “impact.”
When asked to consider possible definitions for the term “charity impact,” participants were split.
Among Gen Zers, “organizations reaching defined goals” was most popular (at 40 percent). Millennials were most likely to select “how efficient the organization was in its spending” (27 percent), while older respondents most frequently selected “the quality of programs” (26 percent).
Other report highlights include:
- 31 percent of respondents rated charity impact as a very important aspect in their giving process, as compared to charity trust (40 percent) or financial ratios (28 percent).
- Respondents are more likely to consider long-term results to be highly important (32 percent) than immediate results (21 percent), and program quality to be highly important (38 percent) than program volume (32 percent).
- Among donors who report contributing more than $5,000 in 2020, 44 percent attribute high importance to long-term results, as compared to immediate results, at 25 percent.
- “Bang for your buck” impact statements come across as untrustworthy to some potential donors. For example, 22 percent of boomers and 27 percent (of those older) rated their trust for such language between zero and 20 on a 100-point scale. Thirty-seven percent of participants who did not donate during 2020 also rated such statements as untrustworthy.”
- When asked to reflect on how individual donors think about their own ability to make a difference, giving directly to individuals was most frequently rated as very helpful (27 percent), followed by organized charities (17 percent) and houses of worship (23 percent).
For a free copy of the report, go to Give.org/DonorTrust.
Give.org urges donors to thoughtfully investigate charities before making a donation and verify if a national charity meets the 20 BBB Standards for Charity Accountability.
Bobby Hansen is regional director for the Better Business Bureau Cedar Rapids office; (319) 365-1190.
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