The charitable giving of individuals fuels the nonprofit sector. In 2010, 77.3 percent of households made charitable contributions of an average of $1,609 per household.
Note: these totals do not include gifts to Arizona nonprofit organizations from institutions and individuals outside of the state.
Motivations for giving in Arizona
The table below shows that an organization's ability to achieve social impact has become an important motivator for individual giving: "belief that giving can bring about a desired impact," was cited as the number one reason for charitable giving in 2010. This highlights the importance of measuring and demonstrating impact, a strong trend in the nonprofit sector.
| Why did they give? | Major motivation (%) |
|---|---|
| Belief that giving can help achieve change or bring about a desired impact | 54.00 |
| Identification with a certain cause | 51.00 |
| Feeling that those who have more should help those with less | 49.30 |
| Helping individuals meet their material needs | 44.20 |
| Religious beliefs | 43.50 |
| Belief that charities can provide public services better than government or private businesses can | 33.20 |
| Tax benefits | 18.40 |
| Being asked by a friend or associate | 14.60 |
| Being asked by your employer | 2.90 |
Source: Volunteering & Giving in Arizona
Trust and transparency are critical to maintaining donors and volunteers, for a single organization and for the collective good of the entire nonprofit sector. As it can be seen on the chart below, nearly half of donors cited the “organization misled the public about its operations” as the reason they chose to stop their charitable contributions.
A wide range of causes benefit from the generosity of Arizonans. Religion tops the list, but households also frequently give to education, basic needs, youth, and health causes.
To read about volunteering in Arizona refer to our section Volunteering.
Motivations to stop giving in Arizona
As it can be seen on the table below, the leading reason why people decided to stop giving was “I didn’t feel connected to the organization anymore.” The second leading reason was “I stopped involvement with the organization.”
Our Arizona Giving and Volunteering study finds that volunteers are more likely to give, and they give more.
| Why did they stop giving? | % who agree |
|---|---|
| I didn't feel connected to the organization anymore | 64.4 |
| I stopped involvement with the organization | 58.2 |
| My personal finances did not permit it | 52.8 |
| Organization misled the public about its operations | 46.7 |
| Organization did not keep accurate records about me or my donation | 21.8 |
| I moved out of the area | 15.7 |
| Organization did not recognize or acknowledge my contribution | 14.6 |
| Other reasons | 44.9 |
Source: Volunteering & Giving in Arizona