And what that means for fundraisers.
Gen Z doesn’t distrust institutions. It distrusts institutions that feel distant or performative.
That’s the main takeaway from a national survey on youth and trust released earlier this year by Tufts University’s CIRCLE group.
The report wasn’t written for nonprofits, but fundraisers and executive teams should pay attention.
It suggests that while young people are skeptical of Congress, political parties, and tech companies, they extend much-greater trust to organizations they see as close to the problems and people they care about.
According to the survey, 65% of young people say they trust nonprofits—a stark contrast to just 37% who trust Congress and only 19% who trust tech companies.
For me, this gap shows ideology isn’t entirely the hurdle. Gen Z wants proof that you’re helping, that an organization is close to the conflict. Young people place more trust in the institutions they actually see in action: peers, neighbors, local government, and nonprofits that show up in their communities.
That same demand for proof is why so many young people have stepped in to build the solutions they might not find elsewhere. During the pandemic, for example, young people like Kate Nelson (who co-founded the Farmlink Project to deliver farm produce to food banks) or Mary Zhu (who launched Develop for Good to connect student coders with nonprofits) didn’t wait for institutions to act.
That instinct to create and mobilize is also what they bring to giving: action first, results now.
A Blackbaud Institute report found that 70% of Gen Z donors say clear impact reporting is what motivates them to give.
This means nonprofits have a real opportunity with Gen Z, but it takes opening up and offering insights and information from the front lines. Maintaining that trust requires showing up where young people are and delivering results they can see and understand.
In other words, trust isn’t a blank check. It can be lost quickly if organizations overpromise, hide their missteps, or speak in abstractions.
And research from DoSomething Strategic might show why. Most Gen Z’ers want to create change, but a third don’t know where to start. What moves them isn’t affiliation. It’s action and clear community impact.
That means nonprofits need to:
- Show results clearly. Don’t focus on what you accomplished in terms of activities, but what those activities actually accomplished. That difference makes the outcome—not the output—stick.
- Be super-transparent. Your impact reporting shouldn’t just celebrate wins; it should talk about what you’re learning. “We launched a pilot that didn’t reach as many families as we hoped. Here’s what we’ve changed.” That kind of candor builds credibility.
- Offer simple entry points. Beyond giving, invite quick, low-bar ways to engage: signing a pledge, mentoring for one hour, sharing your story on video. Then show how those actions connect to the larger mission.
At the end of the day, this is a communications challenge. Urgency alone sounds like noise. Organizations that share their actions and their growth, whether they’re learning more about a problem, a community, and even their own blind spots, hold trust longer. That’s what Gen Z is looking for.
Here’s a simple way to see if your messaging is Gen Z–ready. Look at your last five campaigns:
- Do they tell stories? Instead of “we served 1,000 families,” try “1,000 families could focus on something other than how they’d put dinner on the table.”
- Do you share what you’re learning? “Our tutoring program improved reading scores, but demand is changing. Here’s who needs more help than we expected.”
- When you ask for a gift, do you show the bigger picture? “Your $25 keeps our pantry stocked this week — and if you share this story, two more families may find us.”
If you answered no to any of the questions, you’ve just identified your next fundraising goal.
