New Survey: American donors who budgeted for charitable donations gave nearly 3 times more money, on average, over the past 12 months than those who did not budget

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Nov 19, 2024, 08:30 ET

Findings also show many donors are supporting disaster relief, as 83% of those with a charitable giving budget gave to causes supporting those efforts over the past 12 months

MALVERN, Pa., Nov. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- An online survey conducted by The Harris Poll of more than 2,000 U.S. adults on behalf of Vanguard Charitable, a leading nonprofit and sponsor of donor-advised funds (DAFs), found that adults who donated money to charity in the past 12 months and included charitable giving in their annual budget donated nearly three times more, on average, than those who did not budget for it ($2,344 vs. $792). Additionally, among American donors with a charitable giving budget, 83% donated to disaster relief in the past 12 months, compared to 61% of American donors without a charitable giving budget.

Both of these figures mark significant increase on the impact of budgeting on charitable giving from the results of a previous survey conducted by The Harris Poll in October of 2023 on behalf of Vanguard Charitable. Specifically, that study found those who included charitable giving in their annual budget gave more money, on average, than those who did not ($1,583 vs. $892). Those with a charitable giving budget were also more likely to give to disaster relief (74%), compared to donors without a charitable giving budget (53%).

"Every year, we are excited to see how individuals who prioritize budgeting and set aside dollars for charitable giving are able to make a greater philanthropic impact," said Rebecca Moffett, president of Vanguard Charitable. "This commitment to planning for impact highlights how the American public is becoming more strategic in the way they support nonprofits. This premise is what we at Vanguard Charitable champion for our donors and nonprofit partners, and it's wonderful to see the American public embracing this as well. We're continuing to support our clients and partners' in answering the challenges of today, tomorrow, and beyond through planning and intentional philanthropy."

Among Vanguard Charitable donors and the American public, there is a growing trend of including what is typically considered one-off disaster relief grants in a charitable giving budget. Over the last few years, we've seen a transition from responding to unexpected disasters into planning for it, a type of expected giving. This means donors are anticipating the need for responsive, disaster relief granting by including unexpected giving in their philanthropic strategies—despite the inability to pinpoint when support for relief efforts will be needed exactly.

Among those who donated money to charities providing disaster relief in the past 12 months, more than 3 in 5 (62%) gave 50% or more of their total monetary donations to those types of charities. Additionally, American donors with a charitable budget who gave to disaster relief in the past 12 months gave, on average, $610 while those without a charitable budget gave $336. This demonstrates the power of committing dollars for charitable giving, as it enables donors to support unexpected, one-off needs and make an increased total impact.

Time Well Spent: A Lasting Philanthropic Partnership

With more than $20 billion granted since inception more than 25 years ago, Vanguard Charitable leverages its earned expertise and experiences to develop and curate resources that reflect the changing trends in philanthropic giving. When coupled with the enduring power of a donor-advised fund, Vanguard Charitable donors continue to increase their giving and its impact over time.

Vanguard Charitable donors have embraced a set of distinctive granting tools and resources to further inform their decisions and encourage nimble giving in both the short and long term. These include:

MyGiving: Launched in fall 2023, the MyGiving interactive experience serves as an immersive, personalized journey to help Vanguard Charitable donors develop their own charitable giving plan and giving goals.
Discover Charities: In partnership with Charity Navigator, Vanguard Charitable provides curated lists of highly rated nonprofits focused directly on specific disasters in moments of great need. These lists, available to Vanguard Charitable donors and the public, provide donors with the peace of mind that they are supporting charities with direct ties to, and impact on, communities in need.
Grant Payments: Vanguard Charitable launched Grant Payments with PayPal, and charities are now able to receive funds electronically within one day of accepting a grant—and in some cases, a matter of minutes. Since Grant Payments launched, Vanguard Charitable has electronically granted more than $1 billion to more than 13,000 eligible charities, including more than $61 million to nonprofits supporting disaster relief efforts.
Why Giving Matters: This year's study, Why Giving Matters: Responsive granting with donor-advised funds spurs greater total giving, includes survey results of over 1,500 Vanguard Charitable donors and 440 nonprofits, along with a decade's worth of insight into donor giving behavior. It explores the long-term sustainability of DAFs and the flexibility of this powerful giving vehicle, particularly in times of unexpected need.

For more information about Vanguard Charitable or giving through DAFs, please visit www.vanguardcharitable.org.

Survey Method
This survey was conducted online within the United States by The Harris Poll on behalf of Vanguard Charitable from October 22-24, 2024, among 2,035 adults ages 18 and older, among whom 1,499 have donated money to charity in the past 12 months (i.e., donors). The sampling precision of Harris online polls is measured by using a Bayesian credible interval. For this study, the sample data is accurate to within +/-2.5 percentage points using a 95% confidence level. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables and subgroup sample sizes, please contact Katie Miller at [email protected].

About Vanguard Charitable
Vanguard Charitable is a leading U.S. nonprofit organization that fulfills its mission to increase philanthropic giving by administering a donor-advised fund—a tax-effective way to consolidate, accrue, and grant assets to charity. Since it was founded by Vanguard¹ in 1997 as an independent 501(c)(3) organization, Vanguard Charitable has granted more than $20 billion to charity. More information is available at www.vanguardcharitable.org.

¹Although Vanguard provides certain investment management and administrative services to Vanguard Charitable pursuant to a service agreement, Vanguard Charitable is not a program or activity of Vanguard. A majority of Vanguard Charitable's trustees are independent of Vanguard.

SOURCE Vanguard Charitable