New York, NY, July 24, 2024 — The GivingTuesday Data Commons released The Giving Bridge: Lookback at 2023 Trends in Global Generosity, its fourth annual exploration of global giving trends, today. This comprehensive report offers an in-depth analysis of generosity worldwide, aiming to foster a more effective and evidence-driven social sector.
The report’s holistic view of global giving in 2023 reflects research and analysis derived from current Data Commons initiatives and partnerships, cross-referenced against findings by other leading sector analysts. The Giving Bridge goes beyond familiar philanthropic metrics, often narrowly focused on financial donations to charities, to also report on giving money, time, items, and voice in many different contexts, including giving to community groups and non-family individuals.
Last year, the Lookback Report highlighted the need for the social sector to evolve beyond traditional scarcity-driven funding models, suggesting more inclusive and resilient engagement approaches. This year’s Lookback Report continues this journey, presenting a wide variety of giving behavior metrics across global regions and communities along with relevant insights and new recommendations.
Key findings include:
–The Giving Bridge is Real: Amidst global concerns about polarization and social cohesion, the data shows that most people are willing to give across ideological, lifestyle, and community boundaries.
–Need for Non-Profit Adaptation: Although there are declining trends in monetary donations and participation rates, most people remain open and ready to help those in need. In other words, the giving ecosystem is as robust as ever, and it appears increasingly clear that it is non-profits who must adapt and redesign their relationship to giving to overcome the steady declines in donors and dollars.
–Diversify for Impact and Resilience: The social sector as a whole is not inviting enough different kinds of people into its support ecosystem, whether as donors, volunteers or cause supporters. By focusing on high-net worth individuals, many other potential donors – including many highly generous albeit less wealthy individuals – are excluded. Tapping into existing giving ecosystems in client communities is a smart long-term strategy to increase resilience and impact.
“This is such exciting and important work because we’re really beginning to see a new way forward for the nonprofit sector, where doom and gloom about declining dollars and donors has intensified competition rather than driving innovation,” said GivingTuesday’s Chief Data Officer Woodrow Rosenbaum. “We’re convinced that the more we learn about how generosity really works in the world around us, the more opportunities we will discover to harness and cultivate giving in all its forms, increasing impact, engagement and inclusion.”
This report could not have been produced without the support of the GivingTuesday Data Commons’ many partners. The full report and the Data Commons’ extensive data assets are all available for free on the GivingTuesday Data Commons platform. These resources provide valuable insights for non-profits, fundraisers, researchers, and anyone interested in the future of local and global generosity.