[garyk]

Good topic Rimrock, especially as we enter what is traditionally the peak time for charitable giving.

One thing about that study....

Giving to religion tends to skew those statistics toward heavily 'churched' states. While giving to churches is certainly philanthropy, the peer and social pressure to tithe is intense. Each time they pass the collection plate, for just one example, you're compelled to give. No other charities suggest you give "10%" of your income to them (not even OPB :laugh.

All I'm saying is that when the statistics are un-weighted for giving to religious organizations, the results look very different. Far from being at the bottom, Oregon's citizens are extremely generous.

Other sites related to charitable giving, complete with charity ratings, and worth exploring are Guidestar.com and CharityNavigator.com.

 

[garyk]

I totally understand. :wave:

My point in general is - organized religion is so big, and receives such a large portion of America's charitable dollars, that it is really a sector unto itself, and it tends to skew the studies that combine it with non-religious philanthropy.

The more someone has doesn’t necessarily mean they are more generous; many times the opposite is in fact true.

Yes, that is certainly true. As a percentage of adjusted-gross-income, lower and lower-middle class Americans gift a larger percentage to charities than upper-income taxpayers.

The wealthiest Americans get the publicity for their occassional, immense seven-figure gifts, but the nonprofit sector as a whole, is sustained by the everyday citizens giving $25 or $100 a year.

The important thing is, every gift is important and meaningful.

 

[garyk]

Some more info from the Chronicle of Philanthropy:

The Chronicle's analyses affirm previous studies showing the major influence that religious giving has in driving donations, not just among blacks, but among all Americans. More than $3 of every $4 donated to charity is given to houses of worship or other religious causes, the Chronicle study found.

This very interesting article, which delves into geography, race, socio-economics as they impact charitable giving is here:

http://philanthropy.com/free/articles/v15/i14/14000601.htm