International Survey Reveals Trends, Preferences and Habits behind Philanthropic Giving Worldwide

Public Interest Registry, the not-for-profit operator of the .org, .ngo and .ong domains, and Nonprofit Tech for Good have released the “2017 Global Trends in Giving Report.” By surveying more than 4,000 donors in 95 countries, the inaugural report provides a comprehensive understanding of how and why donors worldwide are giving to and engaging with non-governmental (NGOs), nonprofits and charitable organizations. In addition, the survey evaluates the role that technology plays in communications and philanthropic giving across continents and demographics.

Key global findings include:

• 45 percent of donors give to NGOs located outside of their country of residence.
• Donors worldwide prefer to make financial contributions online, which is a conclusive generational sentiment as well – 62 percent of millennials and 59 percent of Gen Xers and Baby Boomers, respectively, prefer online giving.
• Of online donors, 42 percent cite social media as the tool that most inspires them to give; of these donors, 62 percent list Facebook as most inspiring channel, followed by Twitter (15 percent) then Instagram (10 percent).
• Donors most trust websites and email addresses that use the .org (72 percent), .edu (7 percent), and .ngo (6 percent) domains.
• Social media is listed by millennials (33 percent) and Gen Xers (28 percent) as the tool that most inspires giving, while Baby Boomers list fundraising events (24 percent) as most inspirational.
• 67 percent of donors have volunteered with an NGO within the past year. Of these volunteers, 97 percent also made a financial contribution to the organisation with which they volunteer.
• Both male and female donors list organisations that support children and youth as a top preference.
• Liberal donors are most likely to give to human/civil rights causes, while conservative-leaning donors are more likely to give to religious/faith services.

The “2017 Global Trends in Giving Report” surveyed 4,084 donor respondents from 95 countries across Africa, Asia, Australia & Oceania, Europe, North America and South America, including gender, generational and ideological analysis.

The complete report is available for download here.