Charity is not affordable…

In a survey conducted by VTsIOM, 49% of Russians answered that they were not allowed to donate money to charity due to the insufficient amount of their income, and another 16%, without complaining about the insufficient amount of income, complained about its instability.

Alexander Gavrilov, head of the Initiative Research Practice at the VTsIOM Center for Human Capital Development, spoke about this and about the attitude of Russians to charity in general during a press conference at TASS. According to him, answering the question why they do not donate money to charity, another 31% of respondents answered that they prefer to help those they know personally; 27% believe that the state should deal with such issues; 23% said they do not trust charities and foundations; another 9% said they preferred to help in other ways.

When asked about the reasons for distrusting charitable organizations and foundations, 23% answered that they did not trust them because of their lack of transparency, lack of control and lack of accountability; 20% pointed to their corruption, due to which the money does not reach the recipients; 12% do not donate money to charitable organizations and foundations due to the fact that there is little information about their activities. In general, according to the survey data, only 30% of Russians fully trust charitable organizations and foundations.

Meanwhile, 79% said that they themselves, without any intermediaries, help relatives and friends, and 52% – that they also help strangers.

When asked about the nature of this assistance, 52% answered that they donate things and goods to their relatives, friends and acquaintances; 53% financially help their loved ones; 52% do some work or provide services for them free of charge.

When asked about the motives for doing charity work, 38% of respondents answered that they simply wanted to help a specific person or organization; 37% believe that whoever does something good, the good comes back; 21% want to feel that they can change something in the world around them, influence something; 18% are sure that, having achieved success, a person should share with those who are not so lucky; 7% said that charity fills their lives with meaning.

When asked what methods of donations they prefer, 51% answered that bank payments or transfers; 33% prefer to transfer cash; another 33% – using SMS messages; 29% prefer to help by buying goods and services, part of the proceeds from which goes to charity; 25% use donation boxes to do good deeds; 6% said they regularly give to charity through a monthly subscription.

When asked about the choice of specific recipients for assistance, 27% of Russians reported that over the past year and a half they have donated for the maintenance of animals; 26% helped refugees and victims of military conflicts; 25% – for the poor; 18% – to various organizations (religious, environmental, human rights); 16% helped homeless people.

When asked what could increase the likelihood of their monetary donations in the future, 40% answered that they were confident that the money would definitely reach the addressee; 28% would like to receive a report from the fund on the use of their money; 20% want foundations and charitable organizations to carry out systematic work to solve problems at the state level as a whole, and not just help individuals. Another 16% are ready to do charity work if the foundations solve problems that concern them personally or their loved ones.

Sergei Ishkov.

Photo by Moskovskaya Pravda