According to our annual New Year’s Philanthropy Survey conducted by Wilson Perkins Allen Opinion Research, Americans continue to show an increasing willingness to financially support charitable organizations.

For the second year in a row, more Americans indicated they planned to give more (18 percent) to charity in the coming year than those who plan to give less (13 percent). Most Americans (68 percent) plan to give the same amount to charity in 2012 as they did in 2011, which is two percent higher than last year.

“Overall, the findings of this year’s survey are very encouraging as they show a continued strengthening in donor confidence,” said Rick Dunham, President+CEO of Dunham+Company. “Based on the survey, we believe individual charitable contributions should rise by between 4 and 5 percent in 2012, which is very encouraging. It has been a very hard road for many charities over the last four years.”

If contributions do rise even 4 percent, that would represent approximately $9 billion more in individual charitable giving over 2011.

The poll shows that donor confidence has recovered from a low in 2010 when 27 percent of Americans said they would give less to charity; this year, less than half (13 percent) say the same. In addition, there has been a 28 percent increase in those who say they will give more, a trend that continues from 2011.

This upbeat news for charities is bolstered by the fact that 71 percent of American households plan to give to charitable organizations in 2012. If they follow through on their intentions, participation in giving could be near record levels as the last year data is available (2006) 65.5 percent of households gave to charity.

Most importantly, high-income earners ($125,000+ per year) indicate they will increase their giving. A year ago, 19 percent of these high-income earners planned to give more in the upcoming year than they did the previous year. This year, 21 percent plan to give more than they did last year. In fact, every income group indicated a greater likelihood to give more than they gave in 2011, except for households in the $50,000-75,000 income bracket which are much more likely to continue to give at their current levels.

This positive news for charities holds true in three of the four Census regions. More adults in the Midwest (16 percent in 2012 vs. 14 percent in 2011), the South (22 vs. 21) and especially the West (21 vs. 16) indicate they plan to give more to charity in the upcoming year than they did the previous year. Only adults in the Northeast are indicating they are less likely to increase their charitable giving (21 percent in 2011; 9 percent in 2012).

“The sharp drop in the percentage of donors in the Northeast who indicate they plan to give more from 2011 to 2012 is a bit concerning, but should not be a cause for great alarm as nearly 3 out of 4 indicated they plan to give the same as last year,” Dunham added.

Younger donors (18-34 years old) indicated an especially high interest in increasing their giving in the coming year with more than 1 out of 4 indicating as such. But organizations need to temper their expectations of this younger group as the amount they intend to give is less than the older demographics, although the 25-34 year olds show potential to give at a greater level.

Members of one of the most important donor demographics, adults ages 45-54, show an especially strong intention to give more this year than they did last year with a 28 percent increase in those who say they will give more (18 percent in 2012 vs. 14 percent in 2011).

Likewise, even older Americans plan to continue or increase their giving this year. The same percentage of adults ages 55-64 as last year indicate they are going to give more to charity than they did in the past (14 percent in 2012 and 2011). Even adults aged 65 or older are indicating a higher likelihood to give more. Last year only 5 percent indicated they were going to give more in the upcoming year. This year 9 percent indicate they are going to give more to charity, an 80 percent increase.

This is the fifth year the survey has been conducted, dating to 2008 when the recession began.

The study was part of Wilson Perkins Allen Opinion Research’s January Omnibus Study of 1,000 adults nationwide. All respondents were contacted via Random Digit Dialing methodology. Interviews were conducted via live telephone interview Jan. 5-8, 2012. A sample of 1,000 has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percent at the 95 percent confidence level.