The Charitable Impulse: Those who give to charities and those who run them talk about what's needed to keep the public trust

Publication Date: October 2005

Publisher: Independent Sector (Firm); Public Agenda Foundation; Charles F. Kettering Foundation

Author(s): Ruth Wooden; Jean Johnson; Steve Farkas; Ana Maria Arumi

Research Area: Banking and finance

Type: Report

Abstract:

American donors are passionate and positive about the charities and nonprofits they support. But at the same time, according to focus groups, there are strong and spontaneous negative reactions when nonprofits adopt big-business type marketing and sales techniques. Typical giving tends to be based on personal experience and emotional connections. But givers also have a long memory for scandal and waste. And the current Congressional debate over accounting changes and increased regulation and reporting for nonprofits scarcely registers at all with this group.