Gallup Poll: Americans Less Charitable Amid Pandemic

Americans hit an all-time low of donating money to charitable organizations, according to a new poll.

A Gallup poll released Thursday shows that fewer Americans are able to provide financial assistance as the need for it grows during the coronavirus outbreak. 

The poll results show the percentage of Americans donating money to charity surpassed the prior 2009 low during the Great Recession by 6 points. 

• 73% of adults say they say they donated money to a charitable organization in the past year compared to 79% who donated in 2009. 
• 80% of adults typically report donating money to a charity 
• 29% of adults say they have donated to coronavirus response efforts. 
• 66% of adults say they do not plan to change the amount of money they give to charity in the coming year with 25% saying they plan to increase their total contribution. 

The amount of Americans who volunteer is also down, according to the poll. Fifty-eight percent of adults reported they volunteered with a nonprofit over the past year. The all-time low was in 2009 with 55% of people surveyed saying they volunteered. The most recent poll on volunteering in 2017 logged 64% people saying they donated their time to a cause. 

The survey polled 1,016 adults between April 14-28. The poll has a margin of error of 4 percentage points. 

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