A Decline in Individual Donors? Why it Matters

“The steady decline in the proportion of Americans who report making donations to charitable organizations is gaining more attention in the nonprofit sector, but it has yet to surface as a concern in private foundation spaces. The topic did not appear on any of the agendas of the major learning conferences for foundation staff this past year, hosted by groups like the Council on Foundations, Grantmakers for Effective Organizations, and Grantmakers in Health. With twenty million Americans having decided between 2000 and 2016 to stop contributing directly to charitable organizations, there should be concern not only for what this shift means for charitable organizations that depend on contributions from individuals to support their mission, but also concern among foundations. After all, foundations are themselves dependent on a healthy and thriving charitable sector to sustain the impact of their grantmaking and broad public confidence in charitable giving, as an underlying factor in their claims for legitimacy.” Continue reading.

Source: Non-Profit Quarterly