Public Attitudes about Charities

Maryland's nonprofit sector is committed to public service. Hard at work in communities across the state, nonprofit organizations are serving and meeting the needs of our citizens and strengthening our communities. Their continuing success, however, depends directly on sustaining and increasing public confidence and support.

The Maryland Association of Nonprofit Organizations (Maryland Nonprofits) is committed to bolstering public confidence in and support for the nonprofit sector. In an effort to address public opinion of the nonprofit sector, Maryland Nonprofits sponsored a survey titled An Analysis of Public Opinion in Maryland: Ethics and Accountability for Charities and Non-Profit Organizations .  The survey had the following objectives:

• To determine the importance Marylanders place on the work of charitable, educational, and religious non-profit organizations
• To examine the level of confidence Marylanders have toward charities
• To quantify the percentage of Marylanders that give and the amount of their giving
• To identify the salient considerations Marylanders use in determining whether to give.
• To evaluate the impact ethical standards might have on enhancing public confidence in charities.

Methodology

The initial survey was conducted September 7-9, 1999 and included a sample of 800 adult Marylanders from five regions: Baltimore City (15%), Baltimore Metro (33%), Suburban Washington (37%), Eastern Shore (8%) and Western Maryland (8%). Participants were given an 18-minute telephone questionnaire. The follow-up survey was conducted September 10 through September 14, 2001 (Interviewing was suspended on September 11, 2001 due to the terrorist attacks on the country.) The follow up survey's sample represented the same regional breakdown as the initial survey. The surveys were conducted by the Cromer Group of Washington D.C.

The study is now available in .pdf format. Please make sure that your computer has the Acrobat reader already installed. Acrobat reader is available for free from www.adobe.com.