Majority of American donors lack reputable information and financial liquidity to give during times of crisis
MALVERN, Pa., Nov. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- An online survey conducted by The Harris Poll of more than 2,000 U.S. adults on behalf of Vanguard Charitable, a leading nonprofit and sponsor of donor-advised funds (DAFs), found that nearly 3 in 5 American donors (59%) (defined as those who donated to charity in the past 12 months) gave half or more of their total monetary donations last year to charities providing disaster relief.
This marks a notable increase from the results of a similar survey conducted by The Harris Poll in April 2022 on behalf of Vanguard Charitable, which found that only 37% of American donors had given half or more of their charitable contributions to disaster relief efforts. But the new survey also suggests that donors encounter challenges when trying to respond charitably to disasters.
More than half of Americans (52%) agree that when a crisis (e.g., natural disaster, humanitarian crisis, economic crisis) occurs, they do not know where to find reputable information on how to direct a monetary donation to support those in need. Perhaps more concerning, 65% of Americans agree that when a crisis occurs, they do not generally have funds available to give right away.
"During a crisis, the desire to provide aid is so strong," said Rebecca Moffett, president of Vanguard Charitable. "And we need to do more to help individuals act on that desire, especially those who may not know which charities to support, or how to quickly access funds to donate. At Vanguard Charitable, we seek to minimize these challenges by ensuring our donors have dollars at the ready and providing them with lists of highly rated charities responding to crises. The planful approach our donors take helps to explain why they have granted more than $2 billion already in 2023, our most generous year ever."
When it comes to charitable giving in general, the survey found that Americans remain committed. Nearly 3 in 4 Americans (73%) reported having given a monetary donation to charity in the past twelve months, on par with the 74% who reported doing so the year before (survey conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of Vanguard Charitable in September 2022).
Strategic giving goes further
American donors with a charitable giving budget give more dollars and are more likely to support disaster relief than those who do not have a charitable giving budget. This is consistent with survey findings in 2021 and 2022.
Effective giving through partnership and strategic resources
With dollars committed to charity and ready access to credible, informational resources, Vanguard Charitable donors have effectively focused on disaster relief efforts across the nation and the world. Vanguard Charitable donors have issued 10,578 grants totaling $67.5 million to more than 1,300 unique nonprofits focused on disaster relief over the past year. This includes top grantee nonprofits such as Doctors Without Borders USA, World Central Kitchen, and American Civil Liberties Union Foundation.
Vanguard Charitable donors have embraced a set of unique granting tools and resources to further inform their decisions and encourage nimble giving in both the short and long term. These include:
For more information about Vanguard Charitable or giving through donor-advised funds, please visit www.vanguardcharitable.org.
Survey Method:
This survey was conducted online within the United States by The Harris Poll on behalf of Vanguard Charitable from October 12-16, 2023, among 2,073 U.S. adults ages 18 and older, among whom 1,516 donated to charity in the past 12 months (i.e., donors). The sampling precision of Harris online polls is measured by using a Bayesian credible interval. For this study, the sample data is accurate to within + 2.7 percentage points using a 95% confidence level. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables and subgroup sample sizes, please contact Katie Miller at [email protected].
About Vanguard Charitable
Vanguard Charitable is a leading U.S. nonprofit organization that fulfills its mission to increase philanthropic giving by administering a donor-advised fund?a tax-effective way to consolidate, accrue, and grant assets to charity. Since it was founded by Vanguard1 in 1997 as an independent 501(c)(3) organization, Vanguard Charitable has granted more than $17 billion to charity. More information is available at www.vanguardcharitable.org.
SOURCE Vanguard Charitable
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