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What Do "Don’t Know" Responses Really Mean in Giving Surveys?

Syracuse University

Surveys of charitable giving typically find that a substantial proportion of respondents say they do not know how much they gave in the past year. In this article, it is argued that these responses tend to distort giving levels among certain demographic groups, thus compromising the accuracy of charity measures. This problem is illustrated using data from the 2000 Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey, and the groups that are the primary source of this distortion are identified.

Key Words: survey research • charitable giving • philanthropy • nonresponse bias

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Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Vol. 33, No. 3, 423-434 (2004)
DOI: 10.1177/0899764004266636


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This Article Abstract Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Web of Science (2) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Brooks, A. C. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?