COMMON GROUND

TRACKING THE NEWEST TRENDS IN CHARITABLE GIVING

By Judy Martel

For the most part, Floridians kept their charitable dollars close to home in 2021, with 65 percent of their donations remaining in the state, according to a study by Florida Nonprofit Alliance, the Jessie Ball duPont Fund, and the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. A front-row seat to the hardships resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic might have had something to do with that, says Leah McDermott, program manager at Florida Nonprofit Alliance.

“I do think the compassion by donors and the drive toward informal and in-kind giving has to do with being home during the pandemic and seeing what went on in the community,” McDermott says. Nationally, there was a spike in overall charitable giving in 2020, when the country was deep into the pandemic, she notes. Although donations dropped again in 2021 to below 2020 levels, they were still higher than in 2019.

Going forward, there is early evidence that donors may be returning to their prepandemic giving patterns, moving away from a hyper-local focus, says Jonathan Bergdoll, applied statistician for IUPUI Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. But for now, giving locally is still a common thread in Florida. “In many ways, the pandemic helped highlight or exacerbate the need that was already there, so donors could react to this by continuing to give more locally than previously.”

Moved by poverty and income inequality, more than eight in ten Floridians report that they were driven to give by compassion toward people in need, according to the study. The top issues after poverty were health, climate change and environment, animal rights, and disaster relief.

In a possible peek into the future of giving, the report also notes that donors under the age of 40 were less likely to make giving decisions based on tax deductions and more likely to give informally, by donating food, volunteering at shelters, or putting cash directly into the hands of those in need. The high-net-worth and those over 65 are more likely to give formally, to established institutions.

“Historically, people become more formal with their giving as they age; however, there are things working against that trend now,” says Bergdoll. “Under the current tax code, only about one in nine households is eligible to deduct their charitable contributions, so most people will never have a tax incentive to give their money to a formal charitable organization as compared to, say, a friend in need or a political party.”

The study brings to light the fact that formal giving is not the only way to help people, says McDermott. “We want to get a better idea of what informal giving looks like. It’s always been around, but over the past 10 years, technology that allows platforms like GoFundMe have made it even easier to give.”

There’s also a certain mistrust of large organizations, and McDermott says she’s counseling nonprofits to communicate better. “It brings to light that we have more work to do to overcome misconceptions about how money is spent. We find that by talking clearly about expenses and being more open results in a positive response from the public. They understand that the electric bill has to be paid to keep the organization running because they deal with that kind of thing in their own lives.” «

IN MANY WAYS, THE PANDEMIC HELPED HIGHLIGHT OR EXACERBATE THE NEED THAT WAS ALREADY THERE, SO DONORS COULD REACT TO THIS BY CONTINUING TO GIVE MORE LOCALLY THAN PREVIOUSLY.”

—Jonathan Bergdoll, applied statistician for IUPUI

Lilly Family School of Philanthropy