The extent to which the public believes nonprofits operate ethically and transparently impacts whether individuals will invest in or utilize services from nonprofits. It also impacts the extent to which nonprofits can legitimately represent and are accountable to the communities they serve. Nonprofit leaders’ daily choices regarding their organization’s operations, transparency, strategy, mission, and workforce all influence levels of trust in individual organizations as well as the sector.

Trust in nonprofits and philanthropy, which Independent Sector measures annually in partnership with Edelman Data and Intelligence, is higher than trust in any other U.S. sector, and the charitable sector has a critical role to play in strengthening American civil society in an era of increasing division and disconnection. However, trust in nonprofits to act around policy and advocacy is lower than trust overall, and Americans are concerned about the influence of major funders on the sector, especially high-net-worth donors and governments.

Trust in Nonprofits Was Steady and High in 2025, but Trust in Philanthropy Remains Lower

Trust in nonprofits was unchanged in 2025 from 2024, with nonprofits remaining the most trusted sector in America; 57% of Americans indicated high trust in the sector (Independent Sector & Edelman DXI, 2025a).

Trust in philanthropy remains lower than trust in nonprofits, with some variation within types of philanthropy. Lower trust in philanthropic institutions is an ongoing concern because many nonprofits rely on various types of philanthropy to function (see Economy & Finance section).

Private foundations are the fourth most-trusted sector in the US, with 38% of Americans indicating high trust, though that is nearly 20 percentage points lower than trust in nonprofits.

Only 29% of Americans indicate high trust in high-net-worth donors; Independent Sector asked additional questions about high-net-worth donors this year to understand this pattern better (see the following section).

Trust in other sectors was mostly steady this year, though trust in “people in your local community” slid another three points after a large decrease in 2024. This trend is alarming but consistent with other studies on broad social trust, which has been decreasing along with affiliation and membership in various types of associations and groups. Trust in government and the media remains very low.

This year, Independent Sector asked about perceptions of how ethical and competent various sectors are. The military and small businesses were perceived as well or better than nonprofits on ethics and competence, but trust in those sectors is substantially lower, signaling that trust is driven by other factors.

Independent Sector’s previous surveys on trust found that the public’s perception of the sector’s charitable purpose drives high public trust, and Americans think the nonprofit sector is improving divisions in the U.S.

Americans Worry About Relationship of Nonprofits, High-Net-Worth Donors, and Government

This year, Independent Sector looked more closely at public perceptions regarding the relationships between nonprofits, government, and high-net-worth donors. Survey and open response questions show that the public has concerns about these relationships, as well as some seemingly contradictory opinions.

Americans worry about the intentions and influence of high-net-worth individuals. A majority of Americans believe that high-net-worth individuals have too much influence on federal government policymaking (62%) as well as the operations of nonprofits they fund (59%), and most (58%) believe high-net-worth individuals are more focused on their own interests than the public good (Independent Sector & Edelman DXI, 2025a). A decreasing number (53%, down from 57% in 2024) believe that high-net-worth individuals who give to charity are trying to have a positive impact on society.

American beliefs about the relationship between nonprofits and government are complicated. A plurality (44%) of Americans believe nonprofits are having a positive impact on national divisions, and a majority (56%) believe the federal government is making things worse (Independent Sector & Edelman DXI, 2024).

Most Americans (69%) believe government and nonprofits should work together to address societal issues, but most (59%) also believe the two sectors often have conflicting priorities. There is greater support (58%) for nonprofits to work on their own to assist people without access to government assistance than there is for nonprofits and political leaders to work together to address community needs (45%).

When asked to elaborate on these beliefs, many respondents were skeptical that nonprofits can be truly independent from the agendas of powerful sources of funding like high-net-worth donors and the federal government. When asked about how knowing an organization received most of its funding from a particular source would influence their trust in an organization, small individual donations were perceived most favorably, while funding from the federal government and donations from high-net-worth donors were perceived much less favorably.

However, many organizations rely on government funds to operate, and though individual donations (large and small) are a common funding source, large gifts are making up a larger proportion of individual giving over time (see Economy & Finance section). It is infeasible for most organizations to fund their operations solely on small donations, so distrust of relationships with government and high-net-worth donors may put nonprofits in a bind.

Separation From Partisan Politics Builds Trust

This year, Independent Sector’s trust survey looked more closely at American trust regarding nonprofit involvement in elections. Tax-exempt nonprofits are not legally permitted to endorse or oppose candidates in political elections — a rule known as the Johnson Amendment — but just 27% of Americans say they have high trust in nonprofits to remain neutral during elections.

When the Johnson Amendment is explained to respondents, a plurality of both liberal and conservative respondents say the existence of the rule makes them more likely to trust nonprofits and repealing it would make them less likely to trust nonprofits (Independent Sector and Edelman DXI, 2025a).

Maintaining Trust Is Possible but Complicated

Americans say they value transparency. Most (57%) say they would trust nonprofits more if nonprofits disclosed their funding sources in detail, and transparency certifications like those from Candid are associated with higher levels of donations (Sato, 2025). Independent Sector’s research has also found that most Americans say they would be more likely to trust organizations that pass a course or certification or commit publicly to ethical principles for operation (Independent Sector & Edelman DXI, 2024).

But research on trust in science and Independent Sector’s polling this year suggest that the public can react badly to some information revealed by transparency (Hyde, 2025; Independent Sector & Edelman DXI, 2025a). After sharing information that nonprofits receive a significant amount of government funding, the proportion reporting high trust in nonprofits decreased from 57% to 38% — despite their assertion that more transparency would increase their trust (Independent Sector & Edelman DXI, 2025a).

It is important to consider what types of information should be communicated to which audiences, as policymakers, funders, and other stakeholders may react differently from the general public.

Independent Sector’s research on trust has repeatedly found that trust in the sector is driven by a sense of the sector’s charitable purpose — the sense that nonprofits help those who most need help — and by proximity to and relationships with nonprofits. Four-fifths (79%) of people who volunteered with nonprofits said those experiences made their views of nonprofits more favorable. Engaging volunteers and building direct relationships with community members and stakeholders is a key strategy for nonprofits. Relationships sustain monetary and volunteering support from communities, and connections with stakeholders are critical to the ability of nonprofits to work with policymakers to create systemic change.

Nonprofit Governance Is Less Diverse Than Nonprofit Staffing, Especially at Larger Organizations

As noted in the Workforce section, the nonprofit workforce resembles the U.S. workforce in some ways, albeit with far more women and a higher average level of education. Data from Candid show that the sector’s leadership, however, is unrepresentative of the sector’s workforce; in Candid’s data, women make up 69% of the non-profit workforce but just 62% of CEOs and 52% of board members, and though 47% of staff are white, 70% of CEOs and 66% of board members are white. The pattern is starker when one considers organization size. At the smallest organizations (<$50,000 in expenses), women of color (28%) outnumber white men (22%) as CEOs.

The pattern reverses at the largest organizations (>$25 million in expenses), where 41% of CEOs are white men and 14% are women of color (Clerkin et al., 2024).

Take Action

Independent Sector strongly supports retaining the Johnson Amendment to sustain public trust in the nonprofit sector. Tearing down the wall between the sector’s charitable and public interest missions and partisan politics could seriously harm the ability of the sector to bridge societal gaps and provide vital services. Contact your Members of Congress about protecting the Johnson Amendment.

Healthy governance for the nonprofit sector requires that organizations can pursue their mission with independence. In recent months, actions by the Trump Administration, the courts, and legislators have created potentially significant impacts on nonprofit sector independence. Independent Sector has launched a series of tracking tools on each of these topics, which are updated biweekly. In addition to using these trackers, we encourage Independent Sector members to sign up to receive free privileged legal analysis on these issues.