What’s the current state of generosity in America? Our latest report from the GivingTuesday Data Commons tackles this important question, providing an up-to-date, data-driven resource to the social sector.
This new GivingPulse report, based on the Data Commons’ weekly US nationwide survey tracking attitudes and behaviors around generosity, serves as a quarterly report for Q1 2024, painting a picture of giving at the start of the new year.
In addition to providing some deep dives on key segments of the population, this report continues to build on the Data Commons’ holistic analysis of who is donating time, treasure, talent, or influence, and what motivates them to get—and remain—involved.
Take a glance through these key takeaways, then treat yourself to some data time with our full report: GivingPulse.GivingTuesday.org/q12024
- Holding Steady: All forms of generosity are holding steady in Q1. Giving modes are similar to Q4 2023 +/- 2% aside from a short-term drop in all forms of giving in early February that returned to previous levels shortly afterwards. During this time, we saw an associated drop in the percentage of people who were solicited recently.
- Downwards National / Upwards International Shift: The percentage of people supporting international organizations increased slightly in February before declining back to levels at the beginning of the quarter in March. This increase corresponded with a relative drop in support for national organizations over the same time period.
- Donor Retention Among Volunteers: When donation rates dwindle overall, those who volunteer maintain their giving behaviors and are more likely to stay monetary donors. When monetary donation rates were at their lowest in Q1, volunteers made up over half of remaining donors.
- Predicting Solicitation Response: We predict that an additional 7% of respondents would have responded generously to solicitation if they had been asked recently. This group represents an untapped generosity market that is ready to give more if asked more frequently, but also highlights the need for increased engagement of the large number of unsolicited individuals who still may not respond generously if asked.
“GivingPulse continues to show that people are ready to give and to give more— and in a variety of ways. There are certainly concerning trends in giving right now, but there’s also a real opportunity to cultivate deep and meaningful relationships with communities of givers. We remain convinced that a generous mindset is in abundance and see so much potential for using this tool to build more resilience in the social sector.”
— Asha Curran, CEO, GivingTuesday
Future GivingPulse reports will be released quarterly through the givingpulse.givingtuesday.org site and further data visualization and analysis of GivingPulse data is available to researchers through the GivingTuesday Data Commons platform. To find out how to access GivingPulse data, please visit www.givingpulsehub.givingtuesday.org.
