Trust in Civil Society

The importance of trust to making societal progress is crucial. Independent Sector partners with Edelman Data & Intelligence (DXI) to produce a report about trust in U.S. nonprofits and philanthropies.
trust-report-2023

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 fourth 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’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 over 3,000 American adults and qualitative discussion boards of 50 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. These trust survey findings, in addition to being reported in the following document, will be factored into Independent Sector’s Health of the U.S. Nonprofit Sector reports.

Key Insights

Nonprofits remain among the most trusted institutions in America.

However, trust declined by a statistically significant 4-points in 2023 – the largest year-over-year change in trust of any institution tested.

Trust in philanthropy held steady at 34%.

However, it remains much lower than trust in nonprofits at 52%. Distrust in philanthropy increased 5-points.

Expectations for the nonprofit sector continue to increase.

Americans say the sector exists to serve the needy and less fortunate. Nonprofits are expected to operate in the “gaps,” places or issues where government, businesses, and other institutions are ignoring or failing to make an impact.

Trust correlates with personal financial health and outlook amid a cost-of-living crisis.

Trust in nonprofits is 22 points higher among Americans rating their finances as excellent or good, compared to those giving ratings of poor or fair.

Trust is higher for small and local institutions.

Americans show a strong preference for institutions that are small and locally operated; small businesses (55%) and local government (31%) are more trusted than corporations (26%) and the federal government (24%).

Political polarization shades perceptions of some nonprofit subsectors.

While many subsectors — such as human services, health, wildlife conservation, and youth development — enjoy strong bipartisan trust, others — such as religion, civil rights, and civics — are experiencing the effects of partisan polarization.

Engagement with the public is more important than ever as nonprofit trust declines.

Consistent with past studies, familiarity remains strongly correlated with trust, but personal engagement is critical. Those who engage regularly with nonprofit organizations report higher trust in the sector.

Communications that emphasize the nonprofit sector’s values move the needle.

Nonprofit messaging that focuses on value statements rather than solely data points is most effective at building sector trust.

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