A third of Russians surveyed by the Higher School of Economics trust charitable foundations created by the state

Researchers from the Higher School of Economics (HSE) have found that Russians trust charitable foundations created by the state to a greater extent. A third of more than 2 thousand respondents adhere to this position. Another third believe that private and public funds should be trusted equally. And only 12% prefer to trust funds that are created by citizens themselves. Sociologists explain that many people probably do not have time to understand the reports of private NGOs, and the authority of the state turns out to be “not only higher than the authority of specific individuals, but more understandable” for them.

The Center for Research on Civil Society and the Non-Profit Sector at the National Research University Higher School of Economics decided to find out which foundations inspire more confidence among Russians: public ones, which exist at the expense of taxpayers, or private ones, created by citizens. State funds include, for example, the Presidential Grants Fund, through which the state supports socially significant NGO projects, the Cultural Initiatives Fund, the Fund for Supporting Participants of the Defenders of the Fatherland, the Circle of Good Fund to support children with serious life-threatening and chronic diseases. The survey was conducted from September 21 to October 2 using telephone interviews with the participation of 2,028 respondents.

A third of Russians (32%) believe that foundations created by the state and financed by taxes and foundations created by ordinary citizens and financed by voluntary donations can be trusted equally. Another third (32%) believe that state funds are even more trustworthy. And only 12% of respondents have a more favorable attitude towards funds created by citizens. Another 15% believe that no organizations can be trusted. The remaining 9% found it difficult to answer.

Trust in government agencies grows with age: if among Russians aged 18 to 30 years old 23% of respondents think so, then after 65 years the number is twice as high – 46%. Nevertheless, even among young people, the majority believe that state funds deserve at least equal trust as private ones. The position and level of education influences: respondents with primary vocational, secondary or lower education more often answer that state funds deserve more trust, and among respondents with higher education the most common opinion is that both can be trusted equally. In addition, civil servants are more loyal to state funds. A similar position is shared by those who believe that Russia is now developing in the “definitely right direction” and are proud of their Russian citizenship.

Director of the Center for Research on Civil Society and the Non-Profit Sector at the National Research University Higher School of Economics, Irina Mersiyanova, says that using the example of the Circle of Good Foundation, researchers saw: respondents who have an idea of ​​its activities noted in 87% of cases that they trust it. And over the past year, the level of trust has only increased – in 2022 it was 78%. “It turns out that the idea of ​​​​creating a fund that would exist with taxpayers’ money could seem controversial, and such a decision had skeptics, however, as practice has shown, being a state-established fund is not so much an additional problem as an aid in its activities,” – says Mrs. Mersiyanova.

Researchers from the National Research University Higher School of Economics also studied issues of trust in funds that were created on the initiative of citizens. There are more than 11 thousand of them in the Russian Federation. Among them are well-known and large ones (“Give Life”, “Life Line”, “Old Age in Joy”, etc.), as well as (and the majority of them) small structures that accumulate resources to solve local problems. problems. These, scientists note, are precisely the funds closest to the population. However, trust in them is not so high: only 7% of Russians say they trust NPOs – and specifically those that operate in their localities. At the same time, the level of “advanced trust” (that is, not a specific organization, but charitable activities in general), as Irina Mersiyanova says, is significantly higher. More than half of Russians believe that most Russian charitable organizations can be trusted: 6% believe that “it is certainly possible,” and another 46% believe that “it is rather possible.” Since 2020, the share of such responses has increased by 11 percentage points in total. Those surveyed aged 18 to 34, with incomplete higher education, students, and active Internet users more often believe that most charitable organizations can be trusted. The level of advance trust is higher in large cities. A larger number of trustees live in the Central Federal District and have above-average incomes.

Director of the social design center “Platform” Alexey Firsov says that the source of Russians’ distrust of NPOs is the opacity of internal accounting. Citizens, he explains, do not always understand how the organization spends funds, what percentage of donations goes directly to administrative expenses. As a rule, they do not have time to read reports on websites, and besides, the reports need verification. “A person simply does not understand what part of the money reaches a specific user. In the case of government organizations, you don’t seem to see such a risk. There is some kind of control, there is, after all, a prosecutor’s office, there are some other bodies that can check, and so on. The authority of the state in this case turns out to be not only higher than the authority of specific individuals, but somehow more understandable,” comments Mr. Firsov.

President of the St. Petersburg Politics Foundation Mikhail Vinogradov believes that Russians’ interest in charity is now generally low. “People have a higher than usual need for participation, for their own contribution, but there is no particular involvement in the work of such funds and monitoring their work,” he explains his position. “Their fame is relatively low. Therefore, respondents are more likely to either give socially approved answers or focus on the cuteness of the words in the brand.”

Natalia Kostarnova