Trust in charities vs. connectedness: What drives individual giving?

Nonprofits know how important it is to earn and live up to the public’s trust, especially in the face of federal funding cuts and political scrutiny. And Independent Sector has found the public trusts nonprofits more than any other group—including private foundations—“to do what is right.”

But is trust enough to boost individual giving? Based on a survey of 1,030 U.S. adults and 20 in-depth qualitative interviews, Charity Navigator and Munity Co.’s Trust, Generosity, & the Future of Giving report finds…it’s complicated. We dug into some key findings with the help of Kelly Herrington, co-founder and president of Mutiny Co.

1. Trust in charities is not declining

Despite worries that trust in nonprofits is declining, 70% of survey respondents said they completely (20%) or somewhat (50%) trusted charities to use donations responsibly, while 18% were neutral and 12% expressed active distrust.

When asked whether their level of trust had changed over the past few years, 54% said it had remained the same, while 27% said it had increased. Only 19% said they trusted nonprofits less, most of whom said it was due to a general mistrust of institutions, not charities specifically.

When respondents whose trust in charities had increased were asked why, they were most likely to cite a positive personal experience with a charity (47%). Other reasons included seeing clear evidence of impact (36%), a trusted recommendation from someone they know (35%), more transparency about how donations are used (35%), seeing charities responding well during a crisis (34%), a better donor experience (29%), and strong third-party verification and ratings (26%).

2.Proximity, visibility, and familiarity foster trust

Proximity and visibility: Asked how much they trust different types of charities on a scale of one to five, respondents rated local community nonprofits highest, at 3.79; large, well-known nonprofits at 3.40; and small nonprofits they hadn’t heard of much lower, at 2.87. The higher level of trust in local nonprofits was seen across political affiliation, age group, and level of “connectedness.” (More on this later.)

Familiarity: When encountering a new charity, 64% of all respondents said they default to some level of suspicion. This includes nearly 44% of those who said they trusted charities completely.

The power of proximity, visibility, and familiarity also shows up in high trust ratings for direct giving to individuals, at 3.40. “Trust is not just a function of institutional credibility,” the authors note. “It is shaped by proximity, familiarity, and whether people can see where their support actually goes.”

3. Trust in charities overall doesn’t always lead to giving

Yet, it turns out trust in the nonprofit sector doesn’t guarantee increased giving to charity. What’s at play?

Misinformation: When asked whether donors can truly know whether a charity is trustworthy, 42% of respondents said yes, with enough research; another 30% said somewhat, but you never really know for sure. One factor behind this mistrust is the climate of misinformation: 70% of respondents agreed it’s become harder to tell the difference between credible information and misinformation about charities.

How can nonprofits fight misinformation? “Demonstrating one’s impact and how donor support makes this possible is essential,” Herrington said. While nonprofits can’t solve the broader information crisis, they can make it easy for donors to verify their organization by being transparent. “Speak in plain language, make official information easy to find and confirm, reference third-party verification, and show outcomes consistently in your communication.”

The generous skeptic: And yet, respondents who said they were extremely skeptical of charities gave, on average, $1,160 in the past year, more than those who were not at all skeptical ($894) or only slightly skeptical ($765). So, while trust doesn’t always lead to giving, skepticism doesn’t always lead to no giving.

4. Connectedness with a specific nonprofit leads to generosity

What separates the skeptics who give generously from the skeptics who don’t, the survey found, is “connectedness” to a specific charitable cause or nonprofit. People who reported feeling “very connected” averaged $1,376 in annual giving, more than those who felt “somewhat connected” ($906), “neither connected nor disconnected” ($482), and “not connected at all” ($181).

What’s the difference between trust and connectedness? According to Herrington, “trust is usually a judgment: Do I believe this organization is legitimate, responsible, and likely to use its resources well? Connection is the sticky relationship that comes with familiarity, relevancy, or direct personal experiences like having a family member affected by an illness that the nonprofit is trying to address.”

The report suggests those motivated by connectedness lean into personal, visible, and relational forms of generosity—rather than institutional or transactional ones. While 50% of respondents gave money in the past year, 85% engaged in non-monetary support: volunteering, donating goods, helping someone directly, participating in a fundraiser, raising awareness, or signing a petition. And younger generations were especially more likely to give non-monetary support.

5. How can nonprofits build both trust and connectedness?

The takeaway is to build both trust and connection from the beginning, said Herrington. “The first meaningful interaction with a potential donor should come with a real effort to build familiarity and relevancy with the organization or the cause it’s championing.”

Connectedness “requires consistency and intentional acts over time,” he explained. “Trust is required to give that relationship credibility, but strengthening that connection builds a much more durable foundation that trust alone cannot.”

Photo credit: Jacob Wackerhausen/Getty Images