Public trust is the currency of the nonprofit sector.
The public’s belief that nonprofits will “do the right thing” is one of the central reasons the sector exists. Communities have relied upon nonprofits to provide education, culture, life-sustaining services, environmental stewardship, and places of refuge for centuries. In today’s highly polarized environment, understanding and managing trust have never been more important for organizations to own their license to operate, lead, and succeed. Given the outsized importance of trust, it is imperative to assess the status of that trust and how the sector can strengthen its most valuable asset
Independent Sector, in partnership with Edelman Data & Intelligence, is releasing our fifth annual report of research findings that explores the nuances of trust in American nonprofit and philanthropic organizations. Building on Independent Sector’s four decades of bringing together the charitable community for the common good and Edelman DXI’s experience studying trust in both the global and U.S. context, we set out to conduct mixed methods research including a national survey of 3,000 American adults and qualitative discussion boards of 72 American adults. The research assesses the general population’s trust in the sector (philanthropy and nonprofits) and uncovers the factors that drive trust in the sector.
