This press release reveals a large-scale study addresses the perceived trustworthiness of major national nonprofit organizations, including People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

Among the top charities graded for trustworthiness, were Doctors Without Borders, Habitat for Humanity, and the Salvation Army. Of the top 20, Global Exchange, Greenpeace and PETA received among the lowest scores from the 21,942 people surveyed, meaning that people did not trust information from these organizations as much as information they received from places which received higher trust scores.

Respondents were asked to name the two groups they thought had the two best reputations and the two with the worst reputations.  The top 20 list was compiled from the most frequently named charities.

82% of respondents stated that their level of confidence in the charity depended on the issue and the specific group or company providing the information.

The initial list of charities was was compiled by asking 5000 people to name two organizations with the best reputations and two organizations with the worst reputations to come up with a list of 20 organizations.  Then 21942 people were subsequently asked about these charities.