Charitable Giving Facts

Charitable Giving Facts

As the facts about charitable giving clearly show, people are generous. In fact, one of the most astounding charitable giving facts is that over 90% of people participate in charitable giving! Obviously, giving a financial donation to a cause you believe in is an easy and effective way to show your support.

The facts about charitable giving show that it is a growing trend. Now more than ever before, people are giving generous donations to causes they believe in.  This is exciting, but it also opens the door for some who are looking to take advantage of your generosity.

Because of this, a large number of people also have negative views of charitable organizations. Despite access to solid research and information like these charitable giving facts, many still feel a certain amount of distrust in how their money will be handled.

At Compassion, integrity is one of our core values and this is especially evident in how we handle our finances. We know, based on the facts about charitable giving, more and more people are being extremely careful about where they donate their money, and we can assure you that you can have confidence that your charitable donation to Compassion will be handled honestly and with the highest integrity.

Charitable Giving Facts
Charitable Giving Facts Get the facts about charitable giving.
  • More than 92 percent of Americans participate at some level of charitable giving.
  • In 1970, wealthy nations agreed to a goal of spending 0.7 percent of their gross national product on assistance to developing countries. Through 2007, the amount of aid has been around 0.2 to 0.4 percent.
  • Low-income working families are the most generous group in America, giving away about 4.5 percent of their income on average, compared with about 2.5 percent among the middle class, and 3 percent among high-income families.
  • Top five reasons why people give:

    1. Because they are asked to or are presented a giving opportunity.
    2. Compassion for those in need.
    3. Personally believe in the cause
    4. Affected by the cause
    5. To give back to their community

  • Total giving to charitable organizations increased to $306 billion in 2007, up 3.9 percent from 2006 (when adjusted for inflation). That accounted for 2.2 percent of U.S. domestic product.
  • Thirty-two percent of U.S. adults have less than positive feelings toward America's charitable organizations. And only one in 10 strongly agrees that charitable organizations are honest and ethical in their use of donated funds.
  • Younger donors are more likely to respond positively to messages that focus on the global impact of an organization's work, while older donors are more likely to give to groups that highlight services they provide that the government does not.