Survey Results

Charity Navigator polled its users (in 2006)  to learn more about the philanthropic response to Hurricane Katrina. Here's what we uncovered:

• When asked if our users were confident in how charities spent the $4.25 billion raised to support Katrina-related relief efforts, less than 8% were very confident. The majority (64%) of the respondents had little to no confidence in how the money was used.
• Over half (51%) of the respondents donated to the American Red Cross.
  • Those that supported the Red Cross' Katrina relief work were very or somewhat satisfied with its response (60%) and very or somewhat confident (69%) in the charity's ability to handle a major disaster in the future.
  • Those that chose not to make a contribution to the Red Cross expressed little to no satisfaction (53%) in the charity's response and had little to no confidence (56%) in the organization's ability to respond to the next tragedy.
• The majority (87%) of our respondents did donate to the Katrina relief and recovery efforts.
  • By and large, respondents did not regret (82%) any of the contributions.
  • Just over half (52%) of those who made a donation directed it to a charity they had not previously supported.
  • A promising discovery for the charities on the receiving end of all this goodwill is that 52% of the respondents indicated that they would be open to the possibility of supporting the charity's programs again in the future.
  • Many factors influenced donors' decisions to support specific nonprofits. Those factors that were most influential included the following: a friend or family member's recommendation (15%), media coverage of the charity (14%), the charity's own website (12%), and Charity Navigator's analysis of the charity (11%).
  • Very few people were persuaded to give based on seeing an ad for the charity (7%) or after reading the charity's annual report (2%). No one reported being influenced by a celebrity's endorsement of the charity.
  • And just as other surveys and charities have reported, donor fatigue failed to materialize as the majority of donors (87%) viewed their Katrina donation as an 'extra' gift.

We thank everyone who took the time to answer our survey.