Faith and Philanthropy Report Shows Donors to Religion Also Most Generous to Other Causes; Measures Impact of Faith-Based Giving

6/27/2002

From: Carla Bundy or Patricia Nash, 202-467-6100, both of INDEPENDENT SECTOR, http://www.IndependentSector.org; or Carol Fouke or Pat Pattillo, 212-870-2227, both of the National Council of Churches, http://www.ncccusa.org

NEW YORK, June 27 -- A new report released today by INDEPENDENT SECTOR and the National Council of Churches details the extraordinary philanthropy of America's givers to religion. Faith and Philanthropy: The Connection Between Charitable Behavior and Giving to Religion reveals that households that give to religion are the bedrock of giving to the nation's nonprofit organizations. Households that give to both religious and secular causes give more money and volunteer more than households that give to only one type of organization.

Nearly 70 percent of households give to religious congregations. Households that give to both religious congregations and secular organizations give over three times ($2,247) more than do households that give to only secular organizations ($623).

Faith and Philanthropy explores the links between faith and charitable giving and illustrates how the values and beliefs of religious-giving households influence their decisions to make donations and volunteer to all types of nonprofit organizations.

This report is the first publication in the new INDEPENDENT SECTOR Giving and Volunteering Signature Series. The series is made possible by the generous support of MetLife Foundation.

The research for Giving and Volunteering in the United States is sponsored by The Atlantic Philanthropies, The Ford Foundation, Lilly Endowment and the members of INDEPENDENT SECTOR.

Givers to religion exhibit generous giving patterns that cross all geographical regions, income levels and religious denominations.

Faith and Philanthropy reveals: -- More than 85 percent of religious-giving households support secular organizations; -- Fifty-two percent of all households give to both religious congregations and secular organizations, but those households account for 81 percent of all donations; -- Households that give to both types of institutions give more to religion ($1,391) compared to households that only give to religion ($1,154); and -- Fifty-five percent of dual-giving households give to at least two other kinds of organizations.

"The extraordinary generosity of religious givers knows very few boundaries," said Sara E. Melendez, president and CEO of INDEPENDENT SECTOR. "Donors to religion are more generous than those who give only to secular organizations. This research clearly demonstrates that their giving to religion does not detract from giving to secular causes but inspires them to give to all causes," added Dr. Melendez.

"As the role of the religious community is being debated in the public policy arena through faith-based initiatives, Faith and Philanthropy offers new incentive for religious leaders to expand their congregants' capacity for even more generosity and civic involvement," said Robert W. Edgar, general secretary of the National Council of Churches, board member of INDEPENDENT SECTOR, and author of the foreword of the report.

Distribution of Donations by Givers to Religion by Subsectors The top five secular recipients of giving by religion donors are: health, human services, youth development, education, and arts and culture. Fifty-three percent of givers to religion also donate an average yearly contribution of $249 to health organizations such as hospitals. Forty-seven percent donate an average of $336 to human service organizations. For every cause, the vast majority of support for secular organizations is given by households that also give to religion. For instance, 78 percent of all contributions to education come from givers to religion. And 74 percent of individual support to arts and culture comes from households that give to religion.

Giving by Region Among all contributing households, the highest average annual contribution comes from households in the West, about 45 percent greater than the average in the Northeast ($1,889 to $1,298). Givers in the West also donate the highest contribution ($929) to secular organizations. Over 92 percent of Midwest households give to religious congregations, followed by 88 percent of Southern households, 87 percent of Northeast households and 79 percent of households in the West.

Volunteering by Religious and Secular Givers People who volunteer with both religious and secular organizations also give more time to organizations than those who volunteer with either kind alone. Approximately one in ten Americans are dual volunteers, and their time makes up 30 percent of all volunteering hours. Over 54 percent of all volunteers serve only at secular organizations, 25 percent volunteer at religious congregations only and 20 percent volunteer at both. Faith and Philanthropy shows the striking difference in volunteering rates between those who only volunteer at religious congregations versus those who volunteer at both religious and secular institutions. Volunteers who serve at religious congregations give an average of 10 hours per month. Volunteers who give time to both give an average of 23 hours a month.

Faith and Philanthropy: The Connection Between Charitable Behavior and Giving to Religion is based on analysis from INDEPENDENT SECTOR's Giving and Volunteering in the United States, 2001 national telephone survey of 4,200 adults.

Faith and Philanthropy is available for $15.95 for INDEPENDENT SECTOR members and $19.95 for non-members plus shipping and handling. To order call 888-860-8118 or log on to http://www.IndependentSector.org.

------ INDEPENDENT SECTOR is a nonprofit, nonpartisan coalition of more than 700 national organizations, foundations, and corporate philanthropy programs, collectively representing tens of thousands of charitable groups in every state across the nation. Its mission is to promote, strengthen, and advance the nonprofit and philanthropic community to foster private initiative for the public good.

The National Council of Churches, founded in 1950, is the leading organization in the movement for ecumenical cooperation among Christians in the United States. The NCC's 36 Protestant, Anglican and Orthodox member communions and denominations include more than 50 million persons in 140,000 local congregations in communities across the nation.