Consumer Sentiment: How Low Will It Go?

The University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Survey, one of the key indicators of consumer optimism and pessimism in the United States has dropped below 70 for the first time in 16 years.  The Michigan data suggest that more than 50% of American consumers expect economic conditions to worsen in the foreseeable future.  This is unlikely to be a short-term dip in confidence: history tells us that consumer attitudes lag behind market reality by as much as 12 to 24 months.

The implication in this for nonprofit fund-raisers and others is that customers are unlikely to feel optimistic about their money for quite some time.  Add this to an already-rampant sense of "status despair", and you've got the ingredients necessary for a tougher season ahead when it comes to persuading folks to be generous.