SHU Poll Shows Support for Charitable Giving High, Action Low
Age and ethnic differences drive charitable engagement; health charities popular
A new digital poll by Sacred Heart University’s Institute for Public Policy & Civic Engagement, completed between October 14 and October 27, 2021, asked 1,000 Connecticut residents questions included a section on philanthropy and the impact of the pandemic on personal giving and volunteerism.
Survey respondents expressed strong beliefs about the importance of donating money and time to the charities of their choosing. Three quarters, 75.4%, either strongly agree (19.2%) or agree (56.2%) that it is important that Americans give money and/or time to charities.
Size matters, too: only 13.1% of those surveyed would rather give to large charities, indicating a disposition toward supporting local charities and nonprofits over national organizations. However, in a demographic breakdown, 34% of Hispanic respondents would rather give to large charities as opposed to smaller charities, compared to 9.9% of Caucasian respondents.
The expressed need to give or volunteer appears to have been amplified by the pandemic. Nearly one-third of respondents, 32%, believe that since the COVID-19 pandemic, it is more important for Americans to volunteer for charities, while a similar number, 30.3%, believe it is more important for Americans to donate to charities since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
But while intentions seem good, actions show that pre- and post-pandemic giving and volunteerism has not actually changed significantly. In fact, 31.8% indicated they volunteer and donate the same amount post-pandemic as they did pre-pandemic, while only 7.3% indicated they both volunteer more time and donate more money.
Again, focusing on demographics depicts a differing of opinions and actions. For example, 9.2% of Democrats volunteer more time and donate more money post-COVID, as compared to Independents (4.8%). Also, 14.9% of Hispanic respondents volunteer more time and donate more money post-COVID, as compared to Caucasian respondents (6.2%). And age differences play a role in giving, as well: 14.2% of respondents ages 18-34 volunteer more time and donate more money post-COVID, as compared to respondents ages 45-64 (4.5%).
Respondents did indicate clear preferences in how they spend their volunteer time and dollars. Both currently (44.7%) and prior to the COVID-19 pandemic (43.8%), respondents in the October 2021 polling preferred donating time or money to charities with a health-focused mission, followed by charities focused on environment and animals (33.2% current, 32.5% pre-COVID) and human services (31.5% current, 30.6% pre-COVID). The next-highest-rated areas of interest in order of priority were education and research, public/societal benefits, religion and art, culture and the humanities.
“This poll shows us that people believe it’s more important now than ever to donate time and money, but they haven’t really changed their behavior,” said Steven Michels, director of the Institute for Public Policy & Civic Engagement. “It’s hard to draw a clear conclusion for this gap in giving. It could be people believe that others are doing more, so they don’t have to. Or it could be because of the financial and health concerns from COVID-19.”
Actual polling was conducted on behalf of the Institute in partnership with GreatBlue Research, which administered the 52-question, Connecticut-specific digital survey interviewing 1,000 residents. Statistically, this sampling represents a margin for error of +/-3.02 percent at a 95 percent confidence level.
Sacred Heart’s Institute for Public Policy & Civic Engagement was established in 2017 in the College of Arts & Sciences. In addition to hosting state-wide polls, the Institute conducts public policy research, hosts public forums and workshops and serves as a public-policy learning incubator for students.