In a short by thought-provoking article in the Stanford Social Innovation Review, the authors point out the difference between what people feel they are doing with their donations (47% said assist the needy) and where their donations were actually going (6% actually).   This is a big gap!

It’s even more astonishing that 67% of the people they asked “felt confident that their contributions would reach their intended targets.”  On what basis did were these people so confident?  This gets back to the question I asked in February – What % of your donations are to education?  Health?  Human Services? Most people don’t know.

I think that the number one issue here is that giving is a bit like a black box to most people.  You respond to some appeal, give from the hip, and hope for the best.  Hey!  We’re talking about $223 billion in donations from individuals!   Shouldn’t there be a better way to give so we can know where the money is going?

Stay tuned!

(p.s. thank you to Katya for highlighting the roundup post from Kivi.)