The ability of charitable organizations to thrive in the future is closely tied to their ability to understand how rising, and more diverse, generations think about trust, engagement and generosity. The recently released, Give.org Donor Trust Report, an in-depth look into the state of trust in the charitable sector, also identified differences, by race, in donor perceptions about trust in charities, and giving in general. This edition of Wise Giving Wednesday will highlight some of these statistics and note how this information might be used to help further strengthen trust and grow giving.

Openness to solicitation. Racial minorities expressed a desire to increase their contributions. When asked if they might be willing to give more if approached by charities, 31-34% of African Americans, Hispanic/Latinos and Asians said yes. In contrast, only 17% of White respondents said they would do so. This result suggests opportunities for charities for increased giving among potential minority donors.

Differences in highly trusted charities. In general, the Give.org Donor Trust Report shows that African Americans and Hispanics/Latinos are more trusting of charities than Whites and Asians. When asked to identify their degree of trust among 13 categories of charities, different racial groups placed a higher degree of trust in different types of charities. For example, Whites had a higher degree of trust (35%) in religious organizations than did minorities (28%.)  In contrast, African American and Hispanic/Latino respondents had a high degree of trust in the two categories of youth development organizations and civil rights/community action organizations (19-25%) than did Whites and Asians (11-15%.)

Variances in signals of trust. The Give.org Donor Trust Report also revealed that different racial groups say they assess donor trust differently. For example, White respondents relied more heavily on third-party evaluations (47%) than did minorities (27-34%.) African Americans, Hispanic/Latinos and Asians said that appealing charity stories and the passion/sincerity of appeals had a greater trust influence (27-32%) than did White respondents (12-14%.)

We have created an infographic (available here) that provides greater detail on the above excerpts from the Give.org Donor Trust Report. During the holiday season, we are all encouraged to give to charities. The report results show there are opportunities to help increase trust in charities and to help educate the public about reliable trust signals to identify charities that have demonstrated good accountability practices, such as by visiting the evaluative reports on charities accessible on Give.org.

Video of the Week

We are pleased to provide a video of the week that features an interview with Aba Blankson, Vice President of Communications & Digital Media, NAACP (a BBB Accredited Charity.)  Ms. Blankson comments on some of the findings in the Give.org Donor Trust Report.

Recent Reports

We are always working with charities to publish or update reports for donors. Visit Give.org or local BBBs to check out any charity before giving. Our recently evaluated charities include:

• FINCA International
• InterVarsity Christian Fellowship
• World Neighbors

Finally, remember to let us know by going to give.org/charity-inquiry  if you are interested in seeing a report on a charity not on the list and we will do our best to produce one. 

H. Art Taylor, President & CEO
BBB Wise Giving Alliance