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Contents

Preface
1. Summary of principal findings
2. The size and structure of giving and volunteering
3. Patterns of giving and volunteering
4. The socio-demographic characteristics of donors and volunteers
5. Motivations for giving and volunteering
6. Public opinion on the nonprofit organizations
7. Conclusion
8. Tables
9. Survey methodology and questionnaire

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Preface

The scope for civil society has significantly increased in Hungary since the beginning of the 1990s. The legal guarantee of the freedom of association, the relinquishment of state control over voluntary movements, and the favourable tax treatment of nonprofit organizations have created excellent conditions for the advancement of citizen participation and the development of the third sector. The mushrooming nonprofit organizations have attracted the attention of several researchers and statisticians both in Hungary and abroad. One of the most striking figures produced by the surveys carried out by different organizations (Central Statistical Office, Johns Hopkins Comparative Nonprofit Sector Project, Research Project on Nonprofit Organizations) was the relatively high share of private donations among the revenues of the nonprofit sector. Tax records have also indicated that both the number of donors and the amount of money donated to foundations have increased very rapidly. These findings were all the more surprising and thus needed in-depth analysis and explanation because they clearly contradicted all knowledge and beliefs about the financial conditions of people and the general state of the Hungarian society. This massive manifestation of solidarity was rather unexpected under the circumstances of the declining standard of living and germinating individualism. A sample survey seemed to be necessary in order to measure the size of the phenomenon and to identify the possible factors determining the rise in charity.

The detailed study of individual giving and volunteering would not have been possible without the co-operation of several organizations. The concept of the project was developed by the Research Project on Nonprofit Organizations which has also undertaken the preparation of the survey instrument and the analysis of the survey results. The questionnaire was tested by the students of the Budapest University of Economic Sciences. The sample selection, the data processing and the technical preparation of the present publication was performed in the Central Statistical Office, the survey itself was carried out by the regional branches of the CSO. We take the opportunity to express our thanks to the staff of all the above mentioned organizations.

The interpretation of the survey results would have hardly been possible without the indepth interviews of Éva Matern and Alíz Mátyus and the series of case studies, press reviews, situational papers prepared by Adrienn Csőke, Katalin Ertsey, Éva Mérő, Geyza Mészáros, Ágnes Németh, László Sebestyén and Teréz Szentléleki. We also owe a debt of gratitude to those colleagues who - either as members of the advisory board of the research project or as "volunteers" - participated in our work. In the discussions about the questionnaire and the first draft of our report we received especially important comments and advice from György Bódi, János Bocz, Gábor Csizmár, Ferenc Farkas, Anikó Gayer, Ildikó Gyergyói, Gábor Hegyesi, Béla Jagasics, Péter Kirschner, Miklós Marschall, Ildikó Molnár, István Sebestény, Zsolt Somogyvári, János Szabon and András Szegő. We were also supported by some foreign experts of the topic, namely Edith Archambault, Elizabeth T. Boris, Natalie Fenton, Peter Halfpenny, Rodney Hedley, Virginia Hodgkinson, Susan Saxon- Harrold and Justin Davis-Smith who commented on our questionnaire or sent us their publications and research materials. The English translation of our publication was revised by Julie Walton. We thank all of them for their contribution.

Finally, we wish to express our deepest thanks to the Aspen Institute Nonprofit Sector Research Fund, the Charities Aid Foundation, the Fondation de France, the OTKA (Hungarian National Research Fund) and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund which provided the financial assistance that made this project feasible.

Budapest, February 1995
The Authors

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