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"Nonprofits that want more donations in 2012 had better up their game. A new study from Fenton and GlobeScan suggests that donations to nonprofits next year will remain at 2011 levels. \nThe survey, which polled nearly 2,500 people in the U.S. and U.K., found that 72% of U.K. respondents and 65% of U.S. respondents say they expect their 2012 giving will remain the same as last year. All respondents in the 2011 Social Good Survey were older than 18 and had given at least $10 to charity in 2011.\nThis is certainly not catastrophic news considering that nearly $300 billion dollars were donated to charity in 2010 (2011 numbers are unavailable but likely similar).\nWhat's most surprising is that despite the potential giving plateau, respondents acknowledged that non-profits were the most effective change-makers. Of those surveyed, 12% of U.K. respondents and 18% of U.S. respondents said they plan to give more in 2012.\nThe largest motivator for giving is still a personal connection. When asked what would inspire a donation, the two highest responses were \"a cause they believed in\" (44% in the U.K., 35% in the U.S.) and a personal connection to the organizations (24% in the U.K., 18% in the U.S.).\nEfficacy and money management might be part of the reason planned donations are stalling. Less than half of the total respondents felt that non-profits and charities do a good job of spending funds and managing operations. However, the study showed that the more a person knew about the non-profit world, the more positive they were about the efficacy of non-profits.\nSocial media was not a huge hit for the respondents. New stories and television commercials were considered more persuasive tools than social media for acquiring new donors. Television was ranked as the most effective advertising tool.\nThe study is definitely not a death knell for the non-profit world but it does raise some questions on how non-profits can make better use of social tools and continue to grow their donations year-over-year.\nHave a look through some of the charts below from the 2011 Social Good Survey and let us know \u2014 will your charitable giving stay the same in 2012?\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nImage courtesy of Flickr, kenteegardin"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2011/12/06/non-profit-giving-slows/>