wfn.org | Donors to religious causes found to be more generous

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Note #7390 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

19-August-2002
02305

Donors to religious causes found to be more generous

Study boosts appeal of faith-based programs, NCC's Edgar says  

by Chris Herlinger
Ecumenical News International
  
NEW YORK - Americans who donate money to both religious and secular causes are more generous than those who give money only to secular institutions, a recent study has concluded.  

The National Council of Churches (NCC) and Independent Sector, a Washington-based coalition of non-profit groups, foundations and corporations, found that U.S. households donating to both types of institutions give more than three times the amount than those who merely donate to secular institutions - an average of $2247 and $623, respectively.  

The wide gap surprised Robert Edgar, the general secretary of the NCC, the nation's largest ecumenical organization, but he said it confirmed what he and other religious leaders had long suspected.

"The report is more confirmation of something we felt instinctively and had known from anecdotal information," Edgar told ENI. "It stems from our biblical traditions of stewardship and giving."  

The study, "Faith and Philanthropy: The Connection Between Charitable Behavior and Giving to Religion," also found that the number of U.S. households that give money to religious groups is extremely high - nearly 70 percent in all - and as a result, religious giving is the "bedrock" of U.S. charitable giving.  

"The extraordinary generosity of religious givers knows very few boundaries," said Sara Melendez, the president of Independent Sector, adding that giving to religious institutions apparently "does not detract from giving to secular causes but inspires them to give to all causes."  

Among the other key findings of the study were:  
  
* Fifty-two per cent of all U.S. households donate money to both religious bodies and secular organizations, and those households account for more than three-quarters - 81 percent - of all charitable donations.  
	
* Those in households donating to both religious and secular groups give more to religious groups ($1391) than those in households donating to religious institutions alone ($1154).  
	
* More than half - 55 percent - of households donating money to both religious and secular groups give to at least two other types of groups besides religious organizations, including health, human services, youth development, educational, and arts and cultural institutions.  

* By region, the largest number of households giving to religious congregations was in the Midwest (92 percent), followed by the South (88 percent); Northeast (87 percent) and West (79 percent). But households in the western United States donated more for all charities ($1889), on a yearly average, than those in the northeastern United States ($1298).  
  
Edgar told ENI the study would make it easier for him and other religious leaders to make the case for support of faith-based programs by large corporations and foundations, since it would show the broad national support given to charities by those supporting religious groups. "It makes it easier for me to say, 'Don't be afraid to work in partnership with the church,'" Edgar said.  

The study was based on a national telephone survey of 4,200 adults conducted in 2001. It was made public on June 27 of this year.
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