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Giving in Arizona

The charitable giving of individuals fuels the nonprofit sector. In 2010, 77.3 percent of households made charitable contributions of an average of $1,609 per household.

Note: these totals do not include gifts to Arizona nonprofit organizations from institutions and individuals outside of the state.

The chart below shows that an organization's ability to achieve social impact has become an important motivator for individual giving: "belief that giving can bring about a desired impact," was cited as the number one reason for charitable giving in 2010. This highlights the importance of measuring and demonstrating impact, a strong trend in the nonprofit sector.

Motivations for Giving in Arizona
Source: Arizona Giving and Volunteering (2011)

Why did they give? major motivation(%)
Belief that giving can help achieve change or bring about a desired impact 54.00
Identification with a certain cause 51.20
Feeling that those who have more should help those with less 49.30
Helping individuals meet their material needs 44.20
Religious beliefs 43.50
Belief that charities can provide public services better than government or private businesses can 33.20
Tax benefits 18.40
Being asked by a friend or associate 14.60
Being asked by your employer 2.90

Trust and transparency are critical to maintaining donors and volunteers, for a single organization and for the collective good of the entire nonprofit sector. As it can be seen on the chart to the right, nearly half of donors cited the “organization misled the public about its operations” as the reason they chose to stop their charitable contributions.

A wide range of causes benefit from the generosity of Arizonans. Religion tops the list, but households also frequently give to education, basic needs, youth, and health causes.

To read about volunteering in Arizona refer to our section Volunteering.

As it can be seen on the chart below, the leading reason why people decided to stop giving was “I didn’t feel connected to the organization anymore.” The second leading reason was “I stopped involvement with the organization.”

Our Arizona Giving and Volunteering study finds that volunteers are more likely to give, and they give more.

Motivations to Stop Giving in Arizona
Source: Arizona Giving and Volunteering 2010

Why did they stop giving? percentage who agree
I didn't feel connected to the organization anymore 64.4%
I stopped involvement with the organization 58.2%
My personal finances did not permit it 52.8%
Organization misled the public about its operations 46.7%
Organization did not keep accurate records about me or my donation 21.8%
I moved out of the area 15.7%
Organization did not recognize or acknowledge my contribution 14.6%
Other reasons 44.9%