2005 Giving Marked by Disaster-related Spikes

Jan. 3, 2006

By Abny Santicola, associate editor, FundRaising Success

Spikes in giving, especially online, due to the December 2004 tsunami and Hurricane Katrina make it difficult to use 2005 as a predictor for charitable giving in 2006, says Cary Silvers, vice president of consumer trends with Roper Reports, a division of worldwide market research firm Gfk NOP.

A telephone survey, the results of which appeared in "Roper Reports Public Pulse" in November, found that almost half of Americans surveyed gave more to charity in 2005 than usual, largely due to natural disasters. Silvers says events that hit close to home usually generate the most action out of the American public, but he "wouldn't consider this a tipping point of a higher threshold of charitable giving in the country."

The survey numbers tend to go up and down depending on the events of the time. Fundraisers should take advantage of the spike but know not to count on it, he adds.

The survey also found that 38 percent of the women surveyed donated to charity more than usual in 2005 because of the natural disasters, compared to 30 percent of men.

"Women are, on all of our tracking, highly more influenced than men by events in the news, particularly those of catastrophes," Silvers explains.

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