Research shows charity watchdogs used by sizeable portion of donors

• Published date: 01 December 2020
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/nba.30896
• Date: 01 December 2020

NONPROFIT BUSINESS ADVISOR DECEMBER 2020

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DOI: 10.1002/nba

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Research shows charity watchdogs used by sizeable portion of donors

New research from Grey Matter Research and

Consulting nds that the general public’s familiarity

with and use of charity “watchdog” groups like Char-

ity Watch, Charity Navigator, Guidestar and the Wise

Giving Alliance is relatively low, but their importance

to charities can’t be laughed off, as millions of people

still rely on these organizations’ ratings of charities

when making a donation to a particular nonprot.

The study—Charity Watchdogs: Ignore Them at

Your Own Risk—shows that individual brand recog-

nition for watchdog groups was low: ranging from a

high of 32% for Charity Watch, down to just 16% for

the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability,

which assesses the nancial soundness of churches

and other religious institutions. But taken broadly,

a sizeable chunk of the public—about 53 million

donors—is familiar with at least one. And when bro-

ken down by demographics, the generational groups

that will dominate the donor landscape for years

to come—Millennials and Gen Z—are much more

familiar than most with watchdog groups; therefore,

watchdogs might be more important than the baseline

statistics might suggest.

When asked how many donors actually used a

charity watchdog when making a donation decision,

about 36 million—or about a third of all individual

donors—said they did so at least sometimes, whereas

12.5 million said they always used watchdogs to inves-

tigate nonprots they were considering supporting.

Cynics might point to that nding and say that two-

thirds of donors rarely or never use charity watchdog

groups to aid in their donation decisions. But in broad

terms, the report notes, the 36 million donors that do

use them is a huge number of donors—certainly too

large of a swath of the donor public to simply write

off as unimportant.

What’s more, Millennial and Gen Z donors are four

times more likely to use a charity watchdog organiza-

tion than are Boomers and seniors, and Generation X

donors are also far more likely than older donors to use

watchdog groups. And higher-income individuals, who

are capable of making larger donations, are the ones

most likely to use watchdog groups, the study found.

Ron Sellers, Grey Matters’ CEO, summed up the

study’s nding for Nonprot Business Advisor.

“Lots of donors don't give online, but online is

still critical for charities. Lots of donors don't give

through the mail, but mail still brings in a lot of

money. Similarly, lots of donors don't use charity

watchdogs—a majority, actually—but that doesn't

change the fact that at least 36 million donors do use

them quite intentionally, along with some unknown

number who will easily nd information on your

organization through search engines.”

“That’s why we subtitled the report ‘Ignore Them

at Your Own Risk,’” he added.

For more information, visit https://

greymatterresearch.com. ■