Important to All
Giving and faith. The connection obviously matters to faith-based organizations. But should it matter to charities which are entirely secular?
Yes. You may be surprised to learn religion significantly impacts charities that are not faith-based, as well as those which are.
Our new report Giving and Faith: How Religion Shapes Where People Give, and How Generously, explores this intersection of faith and generosity. Giving and Faith is free upon request (ron@greymatterresearch.com).
What We Explored
As experts in serving donor-supported organizations, Grey Matter Research surveyed over 1,100 American donors to non-profits. We examined what faith groups donors identify with (if any), as well as how religiously active and involved they are.
Then we correlated all that with:
- The amount they give to charitable organizations (outside of a place of worship)
- Their generosity (meaning the proportion of their income they give away)
- Whether their money is going toward faith-based or secular organizations
- Whether they engage in other types of generosity behavior (volunteerism, giving through crowdfunding, financially helping strangers in need, supporting a place of worship, etc.)
- Why people of faith support organizations that are not connected with their faith (in their own words)
- Whether people of faith are aware of organizations from their own faith they could support, and how they feel about those organizations
Importantly, we separated supporting places of worship from supporting non-profits. This is because the two represent very different types of giving.
What We Found
We learned that donors who identify with a faith group still give the majority of their donations to organizations that are not faith-based. That nearly half who identify with a faith group wish they knew of good options for giving within their faith. But that 84% who give to at least one secular organization are not familiar with any organizations connected with their own faith group which are doing similar work.
We learned a lot of other things, too, about giving and faith. We learned how this all affects both faith-based and secular organizations.
Learn more about the intersection of religion and generosity in Giving and Faith: How Religion Shapes Where People Give, and How Generously, from Grey Matter Research. Giving and Faith is free by request – just e-mail ron@greymatterresearch.com.
How Can We Help You?
Grey Matter makes reports such as these publicly available. But most of our work is for individual clients, whether the topic is donating, branding, faith, consumer behavior, or anything else.
Just a few recent projects:
- Qualitative research to help a donor-supported media organization understand why people choose to support them
- Research for a fundraising agency to explore the experiences of mid-level donors
- A survey of Jewish people across 16 different countries in four continents, understanding their experiences and perceptions
- A tracking study for a faith-based organization to measure their target market’s awareness and consideration of their brand, along with perceptions of their work
What do you want to learn? What upcoming decisions could you make in a more informed manner if you knew what your target market thinks and feels about your organization? Why they give (or why they stopped giving)? What they want, need, and expect from you?
We answer these kinds of questions for non-profits, faith-based ministries, companies, and the agencies and consultants which serve them.
How can Grey Matter help you?
We have A Passion for Research That Makes a Difference. Talk to us about how we can make a difference for you.