wfn.org | Conference Call June 26, Faith and Philanthropy

["Carol Fouke" <carolf@ncccusa.org>]

National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA
Contact: NCC News, 212-870-2252/2227
E-mail: news@ncccusa.org; Web: www.ncccusa.org
NCC6/20/02 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Advisory

WHO:		Independent Sector and the National Council of Churches

WHAT: 	 Conference Call Briefing on Faith and Philanthropy: The Connection
Between Charitable Behavior and Giving to Religion

WHEN:	Wednesday, June 26, 2002 - 2:00 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. (EST)

CONTACTS:	Carla Bundy or Patricia Nash, Independent Sector, 202-467-6100
	Pat Pattillo or Carol Fouke, the National Council of Churches, 212-870-2227

(Washington, D.C.) - Independent Sector and the National Council of Churches
will hold a preview press briefing via conference call on data from the new
report Faith and Philanthropy: The Connection Between Charitable Behavior
and Giving to Religion.  Report findings measure the depth of involvement of
givers to religion throughout the nonprofit sector and compare their giving
and volunteering with households that give only to secular causes.

Americans who give to both religious congregations and secular organizations
give four times as much as those who give only to secular charities. This
giving pattern is extended into the volunteering habits of households that
give to religion, where volunteers who regularly attend religious services,
29 percent of all people, account for nearly 70 percent of the hours
volunteered each month.

The media is invited to participate in a preview briefing of Faith and
Philanthropy with research analysts from Independent Sector and the National
Council of Churches. Sara Melindez, president and CEO, Independent Sector,
and Robert Edgar, general secretary, the National Council of Churches, will
discuss the implications of religious giving and volunteering and how
secular nonprofits can maximize the giving potential of these generous
donors.

The call-in number for the conference call is 1-800-814-9791. Reporters can
call in ten minutes before the 2:00 p.m. (EST) start time of the briefing.
To receive an embargoed copy of the Faith and Philanthropy report, please
contact Carla Bundy or Patricia Nash at 202-467-6100 or via email at
Carla@IndependentSector.org <mailto:Carla@IndependentSector.org> or
Patricia@IndependentSector.org <mailto:Patricia@IndependentSector.org>  by
June 25.

Independent Sector and the National Council of Churches will formally
release Faith and Philanthropy at the Carnegie Corporation of New York on
June 27, 2002 at 9:00 a.m. with Harris Wofford, chair of Americas Promise,
and Reverend Wilson Goode, former Mayor of Philadelphia and director of
Public/Private Ventures.

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