Only about 7 percent of Americans are aware of the fact that they use nonprofit services, up slightly from a similar survey the school conducted in 2023. But in follow-up questions this year, researchers found that about 90 percent of people who visited a museum, attended religious services, won a scholarship, or interacted in some other way with a nonprofit did not realize that a charity was involved.

“The scale of that disconnect was really striking,” said Jon Bergdoll, the survey’s primary data analyst.

The survey was conducted in March on behalf of the school by Ipsos Public Affairs and collected nearly 1,800 responses. 

In addition to charting the recognition of the nonprofit sector by the American public, participants were asked about the effectiveness of charities in delivering services compared with the government. The responses showed a decline in the public perceptions of nonprofits’ effectiveness a year after the Trump administration began a campaign to freeze or cut federal grants to charities.

The share of respondents who said nonprofits are more effective than the government in providing health and human services dropped from nearly 25 percent in 2023 to about 19 percent this year, according to the survey. Nearly one-third said government agencies and nonprofits are too different to compare.

The decline in confidence in nonprofits to provide for basic needs is likely due to a realization, following cuts in federal outlays, that nonprofits simply don’t have the massive scale of the government, Bergdoll said. 

“People are becoming more aware of the reality that the government is just a different beast than the nonprofit sector just due to its scale,” he said.

Trust in nonprofits remained high relative to other sectors of society, according to the report. The 23 percent of respondents who said they have high trust in nonprofits’ ability to solve societal or global problems puts them on par with trust in individuals and religious institutions. Large corporations, the Supreme Court, and Congress each registered a trust level of 12 percent or lower.

Earning trust

One of the recommendations of the study is for nonprofits to become bolder and more open about describing their work to the public. That is a big change for a sector that is deeply woven into the fabric of people’s lives but remains “largely invisible,” said Sruthi Sadhujan, a brand strategist who works with national nonprofits and foundations. Nonprofits have often been reluctant to trumpet messages relating to their successes, preferring instead to let their good works speak for themselves, she said.

Nonprofits historically have been trusted with a wide mandate to operate without a lot of scrutiny. But the decline in confidence in institutions across the board, including in universities, corporations, and the media, has made it necessary for nonprofits to trumpet their successes and earn the trust of the broader public, Sadhujan said.

“Trust is no longer free,” she said. “We have to advocate for ourselves and communicate why we exist, who we are, and what value we provide.”

The decline in confidence in nonprofits should be no surprise, according to Jeff Willams, director of consulting services at the Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy at Grand Valley State University.  

The chaotic nature of politics, rising prices, and fears associated with the rise of AI are among the many things that are giving Americans anxiety, he said.

“The public is having a crisis of confidence right now,” he said.

A greater public awareness of nonprofits could boost Americans’ sense that the revenue the government loses due to the tax deductible nature of donations to nonprofits is worth the tradeoff.

“We should be paying attention to the nonprofit sector because as a society we’ve said we’re willing to forgo taxes on these entities because they provide such a critical safety net across many communities,” he said. “We need to make sure we’re getting our money’s worth.”