Despite the economic downturn, Hawai'i residents remain generous — with 92 percent giving to nonprofits — but the amount they're giving has remained nearly flat compared with late 2001, and many are donating goods rather than cash, according to a new survey compiled for the Hawai'i Community Foundation.

"The good news is participation is very high," said Kelvin Taketa, HCF president and chief executive officer, in an interview with The Advertiser. "But giving, especially as adjusted for inflation, has been flat and a larger percentage of that giving is occurring by means other than cash. Cash is a scarce commodity."

Meanwhile, residents are changing their habits when it comes to where their cash goes.

This year, religious and spiritual organizations garnered 53 percent of all cash donations to nonprofits — up from 33 percent in 2001. Human services nonprofits got 15 percent of the "share of wallet," down from 31 percent.

Still, 78 percent of households surveyed said they gave to human services organizations in some way.

The survey comes as more charities have been laying off staff or cutting programs, as government appropriations and cash donations decline, even while more people are seeking help.

The survey is meant to give nonprofits information on not only how much people give, but why they give — or why they stop giving.

Nonprofit leaders, many of whom are in the midst of fundraising campaigns that will last through the holiday season, say the survey illustrates what they're seeing at their own organizations. Many human service nonprofits raise the bulk of the community donations they will use throughout the year from October to January.

Aloha United Way, in the middle of a fundraising campaign that started in September, said monetary donations are down about 10 percent from last year — a decline of about $1 million.

"It does seem the same number of people are giving, but they are giving in smaller amounts," said Susan Doyle, executive director of AUW, which raises money for dozens of nonprofits. "People are thinking longer and harder about their own giving."

Doyle added, "They've got to think first about their own households."

The Institute for Human Services, which runs two emergency shelters in Kalihi, also has seen a drop in donations. Spokeswoman Kate Bepko said the average gift is 20 percent less than in fiscal year 2009, which ended in June. She said IHS has lost donors, but has seen an increase in volunteering.

"Times are tough for everyone," Bepko said.

And next year is expected to be even harder.

ECONOMIC IMPACT

About 22 percent of giving households said they expect to donate less over the next 12 months, according to a draft version of the survey, which will be released later this month. By comparison, 12 percent of households in 1998 and 17 percent of households in 2001 said they'd give less the following year.

Taketa said the survey shows the resiliency of Hawai'i givers, but also illustrates that the economy is having an impact on how much they give — and how they give.

On average, giving households polled in summer 2009 said they donated about $1,467 over the preceding 12 months. In the HCF survey taken after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Hawai'i households had given about $1,123 over the previous 12 months. In 2001 dollars, the donations in this year's survey amount to $1,148, which means giving has remained relatively flat.

The dollar amounts took into account donations of money and goods, but not volunteer time.

Meanwhile, the percentage of households that gave primarily money dropped in 2009, to 57 percent.

In the 1998 HCF survey, 63 percent of giving households donated primarily money.

For the HCF survey this year, Ward Research Inc. polled 513 people by telephone and 299 online. The final version of the survey, which has a margin of error of 3.4 percent, will be published in February.

GENEROUS SPIRIT

Hawai'i households have traditionally been generous, not only forking over cash, but volunteering their time, giving canned food and goods and supporting everything from workplace charity drives to fundraisers for youth clubs. All three HCF studies conducted over the past decade found that a large majority of Hawai'i households give to charities. HCF was not able to find a new figure on the percentage of Mainland households that give, but surveys from several organizations put that number at anywhere from 69 percent to 88 percent.

Taketa said he was surprised at the results of the new HCF survey, especially that giving has remained relatively stable. The giving amounts are compared, however, to the period after Sept. 11, 2001, when Hawai'i was feeling a tourism slump. Giving might actually be down, he pointed out, when compared with boom years.

Nonprofits said the survey gives them an opportunity to better understand donors.

Many are already trying to change their fundraising practices because of the tough times.

Josh Levinson, president and chief executive officer of Community Links Hawai'i, which provides development programs and other services to nonprofits, said many organizations are working to become more innovative in hopes of reaching more donors — and dollars. For example, he said, "saying thank you (to donors) is more important than ever and will translate into more money than almost anything else."

Levinson said nonprofits are also returning to their missions, and trying to better explain what they do. Travis Gray, president of the Association of Fundraising Professionals-Aloha chapter, agreed, adding that the community is also recognizing the importance of giving during difficult times. "People want to help the community. People in Hawai'i are seeing the need," Gray said. "But it's still not meeting everything."

WHY WE GIVE, OR NOT

Taketa said the survey, in addition to illustrating recent trends in giving during the economic downturn, also found that Hawai'i households are becoming increasingly savvy about their giving. About 24 percent of giving households went to a nonprofit's Web site to get information to decide whether to donate.

And about 69 percent of households said they mostly gave to local charities.

Meanwhile, the top reasons for giving were "supporting fundraisers" and "collection box/cup."

"Asked by a stranger" declined as a reason for giving, from 42 percent in 2001 to 26 percent this year.

The survey also found that 30 percent of households stopped giving to an organization for some reason.

About 28 percent of those who stopped giving to an organization said they ran out of money.

The biggest reason people stopped giving, though: A nonprofit asked for contributions too often.