Katrina and I have a division of responsibilities in our marriage. Then recently, something happened that made me understand that 27% a bit better. People should have high confidence in charities, just like I do.
I patted myself on the back for being so self-reflective and decided that I wasn’t a victim of the availability heuristic. In my case, maybe I believe charities are worthy of my confidence because the examples that are most available to me happen to be some great ones. I thought that my confidence in nonprofits might be due to the “availability heuristic.” It’s a common mistake that our brains make by assuming that the examples that come to mind easily are also the most important. Komen, March of Dimes, Church World Service, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation?Īs a psychologist, I’m always on guard for the kinds of biases to which I know people fall prey. How could it be that only six out of 10 Americans have confidence in the sort of great organizations that we have the privilege to have as clients? Nonprofits like the ALS Association, Susan G. We found that number surprising - it seemed so low. That statistic got us looking at Americans’ confidence in charities, which is around 60%, with 27% saying that they do not. The number is low (only 29%) in part due to scams that sprang up when the Soviet Union dissolved, and the country experienced severe economic spasms. Our trip to Russia last year to teach peer-to-peer fundraising led us to review data concerning the number of Russians who expressed confidence in charitable organizations.