BISMARCK — Despite stubborn inflation, higher daily costs and

a dip in holiday spending,

most North Dakotans are as committed to charitable giving, according to the latest North Dakota Poll, commissioned by the North Dakota News Cooperative.

A total of 78% of

North Dakota

residents say charitable giving is important to them personally, with 31% indicating it is very important and 47% somewhat important.

Damon Gleave, interim executive director of the Dakota Medical Foundation, which spearheads the 24-hour charity event

Giving Hearts Day

each year, said the results of the poll were consistent with what the foundation has seen with the success of the event.

“Regardless of age or gender or what part of the state people are from, North Dakotans are givers,” he said.

Looking further at the data, however, shows a split in how much people feel they can afford to give.

Asked to describe how much they give each year, 58% gave between $100-$999 annually, while 32% gave between $1,000-$5,000 or more per year. Another 10% declined to answer.

“The fact that folks are still interested in supporting

charitable organizations

during these interesting financial times is certainly encouraging,” said Shawn McKenna, executive director of the North Dakota Association of Nonprofit Organizations.

McKenna said some of the rhetoric coming out of President Donald Trump’s administration has impacted nonprofits and NGOs, though that includes increased giving to some and less to others.

Some smaller nonprofits that saw grant funding dry up because of government efficiency efforts are having a harder time since they lack the staff to solicit contributions, McKenna said.

In another data point from the poll, nearly half of respondents said generosity should be “homegrown,” with 46% saying support for local organizations is their top reason to give.

“It does look like folks are really interested in helping out in their own backyard versus sending it off to whatever the big national type organization is,” McKenna said.

Among the other factors considered most important, 16% said support for faith-based groups was highest on their list of reasons, while another 16% more said giving to causes they have a personal connection to was most important.

A total of 60% of respondents said they give throughout the year, while 23% said they usually give at the end of the year.

“There’s a preference to support local organizations — whose work tends to more directly impact people in a given community — as well as a shift toward donors making larger gifts to a smaller number of charities,” Gleave said. “We think this is a direct result of charities cultivating better relationships with their donors over time, which ultimately leads to more impactful, sustained giving.”

Kim Hocking, board president of the Bismarck Mandan Unitarian Universalist congregation, said the poll data was in line with what he sees in giving habits.

Hocking said one thing that comes out in the poll, and something he sees on a daily basis, is that people are looking for a sense of community. That desire often matches giving habits.

“As a group, we want to be a part of something, and if we know about it, and we see, oh, we could help with that, then we want to be a part of that,” Hocking said. “That goes along with supporting local organizations, supporting causes you have a personal connection to.”

Most respondents do not give a certain percentage of their annual income to charitable causes, according to the poll.

Only 22% say they practice a form of tithing, long a traditional practice in Christian, Islamic and Judaic faiths.

The low number of people who budget a certain percentage of income, as well as the high number of people that only give up to $1,000 annually, is concerning to some.

Bishop Craig Schweitzer of the Western North Dakota Synod-ELCA, said giving has been “pretty flat” over the past decade, but he was surprised that over half of people gave so little each year.

“That’s shocking to me a little bit because that’s obviously less than 1% of average income in North Dakota,” Schweitzer said.

“I mean, I look at it as a person of faith, the entry level to be a follower of Jesus is 10%, and then my offering is above and beyond that 10%,” he said. “If we’re spending money on things that aren’t a reflection of our faith, how does that reflect who we are as people of faith?”

Schweitzer brought up how important local organizations like churches are in times of need and stress, giving the example of the wildfires in northwest North Dakota in the fall of 2024.

“The church was huge,” he said. “It stepped up and made sure people were cared for and probably gave beyond anything they imagined they would give to something like that before, financially and physically.”

The North Dakota Poll was conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling & Strategy Inc. of Jacksonville, Florida, from Dec. 10-13 2025. A total of 625 North Dakota adult residents were interviewed statewide by telephone. The poll has an error margin of + or – 4%.

The North Dakota Poll is the only regular, nonpartisan statewide survey of eligible North Dakota voters and consumers.

The North Dakota News Cooperative is a nonprofit news organization providing reliable and independent reporting on issues and events that impact the lives of North Dakotans. The organization increases the public’s access to quality journalism and advances news literacy across the state. For more information about NDNC or to make a charitable contribution, please visit newscoopnd.org.

Five months after Operation: Prairie Thunder officially began, the South Dakota Highway Patrol’s collaborative anti-crime and immigration enforcement effort will continue into the new year, the governor’s office has confirmed.  

The program was originally announced by Gov. Larry Rhoden to take place from July 28 through December.

One portion of Operation: Prairie Thunder involves the state’s entrance into multiple 287(g) agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that allow ICE to delegate some authority to state and local law enforcement agencies.

That happened as immigration enforcement operations ramped up after the inauguration of President Donald Trump, who nominated former South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem as the Department of Homeland Security secretary.

Under Trump and Noem, more than 500,000 people have been deported from the country, according to Homeland Security, which has not released state-by-state deportation numbers.

ICE arrest data indicates focus on Hispanic, male individuals

In South Dakota, ICE and Homeland Security have been visible, especially in small towns in the eastern part of the state.

In July, ICE confirmed an active investigation at the Trail King Industries Inc. manufacturing plant in Mitchell, though no further information has been released about whether that investigation resulted in arrests, detainments or deportations.

In May, Manitou Equipment and Global Polymer Industries in Madison saw eight people arrested on immigration charges.

And in October, Drumgoon Dairy near Lake Norden confirmed that the company had been subjected to an immigration audit by Homeland Security, which is not the same as an immigration raid. But it resulted in the forced termination of 38 employees with citizenship information that was outdated, inaccurate or incomplete.

While nationwide ICE arrests and deportations have targeted a wide variety of individuals from multiple countries – including in neighboring Minnesota, where Somalian people have been the most recent target of ICE operations – South Dakota arrests have involved nearly all Hispanic people.

Most recent ICE arrestees in South Dakota are citizens of Mexico and Central America, with the majority coming from Mexico and Honduras, and 98% are male, according to government data obtained via a FOIA request from the Deportation Data Project and analyzed by South Dakota News Watch.

The project currently retains accurate state-based data from July 1 to Oct. 15. The data cannot accurately reflect any arrests prior to July 1 but can help to understand general arrest trends in South Dakota. 

Hispanic people across the state have reported feeling less safe, said Ivan Romero, vice president of the South Dakota Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. The Latino Festival and Parade, which is hosted in Sioux Falls by the South Dakota Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, was canceled this year due to safety concerns, Romero told News Watch in October.

Hispanic population thrives in one small SD town

Rural towns like Plankinton, population 768, are growing their community services to fill needs.

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“That was unfortunate, but people just don’t feel comfortable coming to Sioux Falls at this point,” he said.

The vast majority of detainer requests from July 1 to Oct. 15 went to the Minnehaha County Jail in Sioux Falls, followed by the Pennington County Jail in Rapid City and the South Dakota State Penitentiary in Sioux Falls. 

The Deportation Data Project defines detainer requests as “all requests to state, county, and municipal jails and prisons either for a person to be held on a detainer or for a notification of release date and time. A detainer is a request to a local jail to hold someone for 48 hours beyond when they otherwise would be released so that ICE can make an arrest in the jail while the individual remains detained.”

ICE said that detainer requests are most often lodged against an individual in an agency’s custody that poses a “public safety threat.” Other Homeland Security agencies can issue detainers, but most come from ICE, according to the agency’s website.

Operation: Prairie Thunder focuses on drug operations

To date, ICE has signed more than 1,200 287(g) agreements with agencies in 40 states, including five with various South Dakota agencies enabling parts of Operation: Prairie Thunder.

Those agreements take three different forms:

• Task Force Agreement: The “force multiplier” program that allows law enforcement officers to adopt limited immigration enforcement duties, with ICE oversight. The South Dakota Highway Patrol signed this agreement on May 22 and the South Dakota Department of Criminal Investigations signed it on June 11.
• Warrant Service Officer: Allows law enforcement officers to execute warrants on behalf of ICE on individuals in their agency’s jail. The South Dakota Department of Corrections signed this agreement on Aug. 28, the Minnehaha County Sheriff’s Office signed it on March 17 and the Hughes County Sheriff’s Office in Pierre signed it on March 7.
• Jail Enforcement Model: Allows law enforcement officers to identify and process individuals who may be in violation of immigration laws while they are serving time in their agency’s jail. The DOC signed this agreement on July 25.

While Operation: Prairie Thunder’s immigration enforcement prong has been well-publicized in the state, the majority of the program’s activity comes from enhanced traffic monitoring and drug enforcement, according to data released from the governor’s office.

According to a press release from Operation: Prairie Thunder, 260 of 406 – 64% – of individuals currently in custody as a result of Operation: Prairie Thunder have a drug charge and 156 have been cited with a drug charge and released. More than 2,000 traffic citations have been issued.

The “ICE Contacts” section of Operation: Prairie Thunder’s most recent dataset said that 89 people had been contacted in ICE-related situations since the program was announced. A representative from the Department of Public Safety told News Watch in a statement: “The intent of (Operation: Prairie Thunder) is to reduce crime in our communities.

“It is important to note that any ICE contacts are incidental contacts – we aren’t seeking out illegal aliens during the saturation patrols. However, the 287(g) agreement allows us to coordinate swiftly with ICE if a stop uncovers undocumented individuals. Those undocumented, non-citizens, are the people counted as ‘Individuals Contacted.’ Not all of those found to be undocumented are taken into custody, per ICE guidance, therefore the ‘Contacts’ and ‘Arrests’ sections differ.”

The program, which initially concentrated most of its efforts in Sioux Falls and the surrounding area, has started other efforts across the state.

Operation: Prairie Thunder most recently carried out operations in Belle Fourche, Huron and Yankton, where 75 individuals were taken into custody, 42 with a drug charge. Twenty-seven people were identified as ICE contacts.

The city of Brookings issued a statement on Dec. 12 that the operation would be coming to town Dec. 17-19 and that the city “would not be participating.”

Josie Harms, Rhoden’s press secretary, said the ongoing arrest and citation statistics indicate successful crime-fighting efforts.

“Our results remain impressive, and it is clear that this operation is keeping South Dakota strong, safe, and free — so we are going to keep it up,” Harms said in a statement.

This story was produced by South Dakota News Watch, an independent, nonprofit organization. Read more stories and donate at sdnewswatch.org and sign up for an email for statewide stories. Investigative reporter Molly Wetsch is a Report for America corps member covering rural and Indigenous issues. Contact her at molly.wetsch@sdnewswatch.org.