American People to Blame for Economy, Half of Donors Say

Valencia, CA, May 1, 2009 – Half of American donors blame themselves — the American people – for the present economic situation, according to a new question added to this month’s Donor Confidence survey from donor research firm Campbell Rinker.

As might be expected, more than eight in ten American donors (84%) see financial corporations as either somewhat or totally responsible for the country’s present economic woes, and two in three also see previous administrations and the U.S. Congress as somewhat or totally responsible.

The current administration and the Supreme Court escape being tagged with a significant share of blame for the country’s current economic woes. A majority of donors opine that these two entities are either not responsible at all or only slightly responsible for the present state of the economy.

Details of the Study: Campbell Rinker has conducted surveys for nonprofits since 1991. A total of 504 donors from a panel of 2,324 known U.S. donors were selected at random and polled for this edition of the Donor Confidence Report on April 24-26. The margin of error for the April 2009 edition is ±4.4%. The study is published bi-monthly.

To qualify for the Index respondents were required to be at least 18 years old, to have made a charitable contribution in the past year and to have completed the DonorPulse™ poll in February 2008. Responses are mathematically adjusted (“weighted”) by the donor’s age to conform to proportions seen in the original random DonorPulse™ telephone sample.

The Donor Confidence Index represents a true longitudinal view of American donor opinions in February, October and December 2008 and February and April of 2009.