5 Key Findings from Nonprofit Fundraising Study on Charitable Giving & Volunteering of Children

Women are a very powerful nonprofit fundraising demographic with significant spending power and influence. In the past I have covered research focused on women’s philanthropic activities like The Study of High Net Worth Women’s Philanthropy and The Impact of Women’s Giving Networks. Another women-centric report that I have spotlighted in the past is the Women’s Philanthropy Institute Women Give report. Recently they released their latest edition of the report titled Women Give 2013 New Research on Charitable Giving by Girls and Boys which provides some interesting insights on new research on charitable giving by children and how this behaviour is taught by their parents. The fourth annual study in the series follows the giving of 903 children aged 8 to 19. The following are 5 key findings that fundraisers should keep in mind when thinking of encouraging and integrating children into philanthropic activities:

Click image to go to complete infographic

1. Gender – 88% of children gave during the study period. Also interesting to note is that there is no significant difference between genders in levels of giving, where 88% of girls and 87% of boys gave to charity. These results are remarkable as this is a demographic that is nearly invisible in all other nonprofit studies and reporting.
2. Income Level – Income levels also did not play a significant role in children’s giving, as 87% of low income and 86% of middle income children gave to charity during the reporting period while 90% of high income children also gave to income. The 4% difference of giving children between middle and high income families is negligible and indicative of other factors which contribute to children giving.
3. Communication – Similar to the gender and income level results, 87% of children had parents that talked to them about charitable giving, with only a three percent difference when analyzed by gender. It certainly seems that communication is an important factor which affects whether or not children give and the results support this. Communication is an effective strategy with children having a 0.125 greater chance in giving compared to kids whose parents do not speak to them about charitable giving.
4. Parents Giving Levels – Interestingly only 80% of the children’s parents give to charity compared to the 88% of children that give. The study does not provide an explanation for the difference in giving between parents and their children, though at a glance it could be perceived that it is based on the different income levels but no direct correlation is drawn. Could there realistically be a higher percentage of children giving than their own parents? Or is it a matter of parents not practicing what they preach?
5. Volunteering – Though less children volunteer than give to charity with only 55% having volunteered during the study period – girls edge out boys in volunteering by a whole 10% (girls 60% vs. boys 50%) making them not only most likely to volunteer but the study also show that they volunteer more hours overall.

Although the Women Give 2013 New Research on Charitable Giving by Girls and Boys report covers time periods of several years ago, this type of research can certainly help nonprofit organizations develop programs that could integrate children into planned giving activities and thereby establish a strong and long lasting relationship with supporters at a younger age. The study concludes that communication and talking to children about charitable giving is key to raising charitable children.

____________________________________________________________________________________

For nonprofit, nonprofit fundraising, CSR business and other news, connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, Linedin, Google+ and Pinterest or subscribe to our RSS feed.

Miratel Solutions is a Toronto call centre, eBusiness, and letter shop mail house specializing in professional fundraising services including telephone fundraising, online fundraising, lottery services, donation caging, donation processing and other donor management services. We are committed to our CSR business values in all contact centre services and mail house operations and advancing the missions of the nonprofits we proudly serve.