Confidence in Charitable Organizations Reaches Lowest Level Since 9/11

According to ongoing random sample surveys by the Brookings Institution’s Center for Public Service, confidence in charitable organizations has fallen to its lowest levels since September 11. The number of Americans who express a lot of confidence in charitable organizations has dropped 6 percentage points over the past year, while the number who say they have no confidence has doubled.

This conclusion is based on five surveys which tracked confidence in charitable organizations. The first survey in the trend line was conducted in July 2001 by the Independent Sector, a Washington, D.C. association that represents charitable organizations. The other four surveys were conducted on behalf of the Brookings Institution’s Center for Public Service. The Center for Public Service surveys are not affiliated with the Independent Sector survey.

Last week, the Center for Public Service released data on public confidence in both charitable organizations and federated appeals. In measuring confidence in federated appeals, the Center used question wording originally authored by the Independent Sector in order to anchor a post-September 11 trend line. Unfortunately, the original Independent Sector question misidentified the March of Dimes as a federated appeal. In fact and in practice, however, the March of Dimes is not a federated appeal. Upon further review, the Center for Public Service has decided to retract those data and focus this release solely on confidence in charitable organizations.

The data clearly show that charitable organizations failed to experience a surge in confidence following September 11.

“The controversy surrounding the disbursement of charity funds for September 11 survivors is the primary culprit in the decline in public confidence in charitable organizations,” said Paul C. Light, director of the Center for Public Service, and author of the forthcoming State of the Nonprofit Workforce report. In December, for example, 60 percent of Americans said they were following the controversy either very or fairly closely, a number that put the story ahead of interest in the Enron bankruptcy at the time.

“It was a wasted opportunity for the independent sector,” Light argued. “Americans were allowed to think the worst about charitable organizations in part because the organizations couldn’t or wouldn’t tell their success stories.” Further, charitable organizations experienced the same slide in winter and spring that affected confidence in other civic institutions.

As the table below shows, three of the Center for Public Service surveys asked the confidence question in two different ways. One half of the respondents in December, May, and August were asked about confidence in charitable organizations with no reference to a specific organization, which is how the Independent Sector asked the question in July 2001. The other half were asked about confidence in charitable organizations—such as the Red Cross—which provides a measure of that charity’s effect on confidence.

Keeping the Trust?

(Sample sizes for the surveys were as follows: 4,216 in July 2001; 1,011 in the December 2001 survey, with roughly half of the total asked the general version of the question and the other half asked the Red Cross-only version; 1,737 in January 2002; 986 in May 2002, again with roughly half of the total asked the two versions of the question; and 2,006 in August 2002, again, with roughly half of the total asked the general version of the question, and the other half asked the Red Cross-only version. Based on these sample sizes, one can assume with 95 percent confidence that the margin of error in the July, January, and August surveys was plus or minus 3 percent, and that the margin of error in the December and May surveys was plus or minus 4 percent)

Confidence in the Red Cross continued to fall over the summer. Although confidence in the Red Cross remains higher than confidence in charitable organizations as a whole, Light suggested that its troubles have pulled general support for charitable organizations downward. Because the Independent Sector survey in July 2001 did not ask specifically about the Red Cross, it is not clear whether confidence in the charity rose or fell immediately after September 11.

“It still has a very strong brand identity,” Light said of the Red Cross, “but it is no longer the gold standard of the charitable sector.”

Nevertheless, Light congratulated the new leadership of the Red Cross for its commitment to rebuilding trust. “They recognize the problem and are working hard to turn the organization toward a more hopeful future.”

For interview requests with Paul C. Light, director of the Center for Public Service and author of the forthcoming survey report, State of the Nonprofit Workforce, or additional information about the surveys conducted by the Center for Public Service on public confidence in charitable organizations, please contact Gina Russo at (202) 797-6405 or [email protected].