How do New Zealanders give?: 3rd Quarterly generosity indicators report

The How do New Zealanders give? series has arisen out of collaboration between the Office for the Community and Voluntary Sector (OCVS) and the Generosity Hub, a cross-sectoral group from business, government and the non-profit sector. The Generosity Hub aims to create better awareness of giving in New Zealand and grow the level of giving, in all its forms, amongst all people in our communities.

This release updates the five key indicators of generosity towards community organisations in New Zealand, covering data collected over 15 months (October 2009 to December 2010) by Nielsen Media Research.

New Zealand is ranked the most generous country in the world out of 153 countries surveyed in 2010 by the UK-based Charities Aid Foundation . Many community organisations are highly reliant on volunteers, donations of money and donations of goods. This series aims to track trends in generosity, so that we can understand, celebrate and protect this valuable feature of New Zealand society.

Note 1: Percentages are of the population 10 years and older as estimated for each quarter.
Note 2: Respondents were asked to recall their behaviours in the previous 3 months.

Analysis of these indicators from the December quarter 2009 to December quarter 2010 show trends as detailed below.

The volunteering rate fluctuated around 2.5 percentage points over the five quarters measured, indicating that there is a constant supply of volunteers in New Zealand. However, the number of people volunteering surged in the March 2010 quarter, driven by the large number of community-based sports events that occur over the summer months.

When analysed by gender, more women volunteer than men. On average, 1.4 women volunteered for every male who volunteered across the period measured. However, there were over 140,000 more male volunteers in the March 2010 quarter than in the quarter before or after. This demonstrates how much more seasonal male volunteering is compared to female volunteering, which is relatively consistent across the period measured. These gender differences are detailed in the appendix.

The number of people donating money seems to be less affected by season and more by need. Major surges in donations appear to be linked with three major recent events – the Samoan tsunami (late September 2009), the first Christchurch earthquake (late September 2010), and the Pike River coal mine accident (late November 2010). In the December quarter 2010, about 118,000 more people donated money than had done so in the previous quarter. Much of this increase appears to be in response to the first Christchurch earthquake and the Pike River coal mine accident, with large increases by donors to many health and social services related subsectors.

Like volunteering, on average 1.4 women donated money for every male who did across the period measured. The number of males donating money each quarter was also more variable than for females. Similarly, the median amount donated per month by males fluctuated substantially while remaining relatively stable for females, as detailed in the appendix.

The number of people donating goods increases in winter, primarily driven by donations to health and social services, and in particular hospices. On average 2.1 women donated goods for every male who donated goods across the period measured. However, there was significant variation between quarters for both sexes, indicating that donations of goods is the most changeable form of support measured.

When comparing the December 2009 and December 2010 quarters, the data shows large changes in how total donations are distributed across broad non-profit subsectors.

International aid donations decreased from 18% to 8% of total donations. The average donation to international aid organisations was around six times higher in December 2009 than in the subsequent four quarters, which appears related to the Samoan tsunami.

Similarly, donations to religious activities decreased from 33% to 20% of total donations. In contrast, the share of total donations to social and health services rose from 20% to 44%. The change in donations for religious activities is substantial. Analysis indicates that donors to religious activities redirected their giving to the areas of highest need, in response to the first Christchurch earthquake and the Pike River coal mine accident.

Given these emerging trends, it will be interesting to see if the next two quarterly updates show similar donation patterns in response to the second Christchurch earthquake and the Japanese earthquake and tsunami. This data will be available later in 2011.

Once eight quarters (two full years) of data are available, more detailed analysis of the changes in total donations will be possible, which will explain these emerging trends and variations more clearly.

Note 1: Percentages are of the population group 10 years and older as estimated for each quarter.

Note 2: Respondents were asked to recall their behaviours in the previous 3 months.

The information in this report is sourced from Nielsen Media Research’s Panorama survey (December 2009 – December 2010 database), which randomly surveys 3,000 people aged 10 years and over per quarter.

For this research, 27 subsectors are measured. The classification used in the survey to identify types of community organisations supported is adapted from the International Classification of Non-profit Organisations (ICNPO). These subsectors are:

Culture and recreation
1. Arts and culture
2. Sports clubs
3. Marae
4. Other recreation/social clubs and community organisations (e.g. service and special interest clubs)

Education
5. Preschool including Kindergarten, Playcentre and Kōhanga Reo
6. Primary and Secondary Education
7. Tertiary Education and Research

Health and medical
8. Hospitals/rehabilitation
9. Hospice
10. Illness and disease prevention
11. Mental health services
12. Children’s health
13. Other health services (e.g. ambulance, paramedics)

Social services and community development
14. Children’s welfare
15. Family support services (e.g. shelters and family/life education)
16. Youth services and welfare
17. Emergency services (e.g. coastguard, fire service, mountain rescue teams)
18. Services for the elderly
19. Services for people with disabilities

International aid
20. International aid, advocacy and disaster relief
21. Child sponsorship
22. Fair trade practices

Environment
23. Animal welfare and rights
24. Environmental

Other
25. Religious activities
26. Business and Professional Associations
27. Political organisations (including parties, unions).

Panorama asks people to identify the types of charities, non-profits and other community organisations they have personally supported, generally in the previous three months. Support can be any one of five things; direct donation/sponsorship, donation of money to an appeal, donations of goods, volunteering and other support (such as purchasing products) that support the charity/worthy cause.

The results are based on the respondents' self-classification and perceptions, and their recall of their actions. Note that, as the survey is conducted throughout each quarter, the time period covered by the phrase "in the previous 3 months" is different for each respondent. This means the December 2010 quarter results report on behaviour in any three month period from July to December 2010, and the September quarter results cover activity in any three month period between April and September 2010. Data is weighted to the population for analysis.

If you require more information on the survey, visit www.nielsenmedia.co.nz, keyword “Panorama”.

The Office for the Community and Voluntary Sector (OCVS) is part of the Department of Internal Affairs Te Tari Taiwhenua.

This report was compiled by James King, Policy Analyst, OCVS.
» e-mail: ocvs@dia.govt.nz
» website: www.ocvs.govt.nz

The Office for the Community and Voluntary Sector will undertake more detailed analysis once a two full years (eight quarters) of data are available.

We encourage you to examine, consider, discuss and debate this information.

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¹ Go to the Charities Aid Foundation website for more information