Social Policy

Americans Volunteer And Donate To Charities

Tens of millions of Americans and U.S. businesses donate truly substantial amounts of time and money each year to various causes. Here are some impressive figures:

  • Americans volunteer $190 billion worth of their time each year, according to the National Commission on Philanthropy and Civic Renewal.

  • Last year, they donated $150 billion to charities -- equal to 1.9 percent of the nation's income.

  • Foundations accounted for $12 billion of the total donations, corporations $9 billion and bequests $10 billion -- with individuals contributing the remaining approximately $120 billion.

Churches and religious organizations reap 46 percent of all charitable dollars, with education groups realizing 13 percent of the total and health organizations getting 9 percent.

When President Ronald Reagan proposed sharp cuts in marginal tax rates in 1981, opponents predicted that the cuts would make the rich less generous because tax deductions would be smaller. But although the Reagan cuts lowered the top federal income tax rate from 70 percent to 28 percent during the 1980s, there was no drop in giving.

Source: Susan Lee and Christine Foster, "Loosen Up a Bit, Folks," Forbes, December 15, 1997.


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