Donors Prefer to Give Locally… Myth or Reality?

It has been a long-held assumption that donors prefer to “give where they live”, that is, to local charities. Several surveys conducted recently support this assumption, with some surprising results.

Campbell Rinker surveyed donors to health and hospital charities on this very issue and learned that almost three-quarters (73%) prefer to give locally, 13% prefer to give nationally and only three percent prefer to give internationally. Another eight percent say they give to all types of charities equally. (We expected that donors to hospital charities would want to support the hospitals in their community).

Another survey of donors to international relief and development organizations revealed some surprises, though. Of all donors to international relief and development organizations, 60% actually prefer to give locally. Fifteen percent prefer to give nationally and only eight percent say they prefer to give internationally. Despite their predisposition to support international charities, these donors still have a strong preference for supporting their local nonprofits.

This bias toward local organizations also extends to the performing arts sector. A survey of 450 performing arts donors revealed that the majority (60%) did not support arts organizations outside of their local area. On the other hand, a fairly strong 40% minority had supported arts organizations outside their local area.

Study Reveals Surprises in Donor Gender and Marital Status

Past Campbell Rinker studies have consistently shown that donors are more likely to be married than the typical U.S. population (69% vs. 60%) and that women are more likely to donate than men (63% vs. 37%). However, a recent analysis of donors to various charitable sectors revealed some interesting variations.

Similar to the typical U.S. donors, seven out of 10 donors to arts organizations (performing arts, museums and gardens) are married (69%). The married rate among international health and relief organizations is slightly lower (66%), while the married rate among donors to faith-based charities is slightly higher (72%).

The highest percent of married donors, though, occurs within the higher education sector. Almost four out of five donors to higher education institutions (78%) are married. The lowest percent of married donors belongs to the health sector. Only about three of five donors (62%) to health charities are married. The fact that health donors are generally older than donors to other sectors may contribute to this finding, since a higher percentage of older donors are widowed.

As noted earlier, three out of five survey respondents are female (63%), while two out of five are male (37%).

The skew toward women as donors appears to be strongest in the arts sector (67%), and slightly elevated among donors to international relief and development charities (65% female). A slightly lower percentage of women appear to give to health charities (62%) and faith-based organizations (62%).

The trend is reversed, however, for donors to higher education. Three out of five donors to higher education institutions are male (60%), and two in five are female (40%).

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DonorSpeakT is a free publication of Campbell Rinker, a market research firm dedicated to helping organizations obtain accurate feedback from their constituents through surveys, focus groups, personal interviews, donor file analysis and advanced statistical modeling.