Research is indicating that habits of giving have changed in the past decade in America. Charitable giving as part of the yearly budget and the support for philanthropy is narrowing according to a How America Gives study. This study indicates that Americans who earn $50,000 or more each year and submit an itemized charitable deduction list on their tax returns represent nearly 80% of all individual charitable contributions. This is a good measurement of the giving taking place locally and regionally.
According to The Chronicle of Philanthropy, fewer Americans are allocating for charitable giving in their budgets. This means that nonprofits are increasingly relying on the affluent for support.
It also found in an analysis of the IRS data that only 24% of taxpayers reported on their tax returns that they made a charitable gift in 2015. A decade earlier charitable giving was regularly reaching 30 or 31 percent.
Why the change? There could be several reasons. Ten years ago, many American families were already starting to budget differently because of the recession. For some, charitable giving was one of the things to eliminate from the budget. Another demographic shift is that Millennials have overtaken Baby Boomers as the country’s largest generation. Studies have indicated that the Millennials see philanthropy differently and are less traditional about their giving. Also, most Americans are bombarded by opportunities and requests to give. Tragedies in the news like hurricanes, shootings, floods, and local issues act more like a “squeaky wheel” compared to other non-profits.
For the various non-profit organizations who are counting on donors, learning the best practices in how to market and create awareness for the cause will continually be crucial in order to compete for and to generate funding.