Everyday Actions, Extraordinary Potential: The Power of Giving and Volunteering
This 2024 report from the Generosity Commission examines the demonstrated decline in donors (but not dollars) in recent years:
With rare exception, year over year more money has been given to nonprofits but by fewer givers. And year over year, more hours have been donated to nonprofits but by fewer volunteers. In short, the numbers of dollars and hours have gone up, but the number of donors has gone down.
There are several hypotheses to explain the steep fall in these forms of civic participation. Middle-class precarity is prominent among them. But whereas economics have played a large, even decisive role, social scientists note that profound social factors have also been at play, suggesting a more complicated picture. Trends in everyday giving and volunteering have occurred alongside two others: a rise in social isolation and a decline in social trust.
