Americans Donated $295B In 2006

Total Sets New Record, Report Says; Nearly $97B Given To Religious Organizations

(AP)  Americans gave nearly $300 billion to charitable causes last year, setting a new record and besting the 2005 total that had been boosted by a surge in aid to victims of hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma and the Asian tsunami.

Donors contributed an estimated $295.02 billion in 2006, a 1 percent increase when adjusted for inflation, up from $283.05 billion in 2005. Excluding donations for disaster relief, the total rose 3.2 percent, inflation-adjusted, according to an annual report released Monday by the Giving USA Foundation at Indiana University's Center on Philanthropy.

Giving historically tracks the health of the overall economy, with the rise amounting to about one-third the rise in the stock market, according to Giving USA. Last year was right on target, with a 3.2 percent rise as stocks rose more than 10 percent on an inflation-adjusted basis.

"What people find especially interesting about this, and it's true year after year, that such a high percentage comes from individual donors," Giving USA Chairman Richard Jolly said.

Individuals gave a combined 75.6 percent of the total. With bequests, that rises to 83.4 percent.

The biggest chunk of the donations, $96.82 billion or 32.8 percent, went to religious organizations. The second largest slice, $40.98 billion or 13.9 percent, went to education, including gifts to colleges, universities and libraries.

About 65 percent of households with incomes less than $100,000 give to charity, the report showed.

"It tells you something about American culture that is unlike any other country," said Claire Gaudiani, a professor at NYU's Heyman Center for Philanthropy and author of "The Greater Good: How Philanthropy Drives the American Economy and Can Save Capitalism." Gaudiani said the willingness of Americans to give cuts across income levels, and their investments go to developing ideas, inventions and people to the benefit of the overall economy.

Gaudiani said Americans give twice as much as the next most charitable country, according to a November 2006 comparison done by the Charities Aid Foundation. In philanthropic giving as a percentage of gross domestic product, the U.S. ranked first at 1.7 percent. No. 2 Britain gave 0.73 percent, while France, with a 0.14 percent rate, trailed such countries as South Africa, Singapore, Turkey and Germany.

Mega-gifts, which Giving USA considers to be donations of $1 billion or more, tend to get the most attention, and that was true last year especially.

Investment superstar Warren Buffett announced in June 2006 that he would give $30 billion over 20 years to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Of that total, $1.9 billion was given in 2006, which helped push the year's total higher.

Gaudiani said that gift reflects a growing focus on using donated money efficiently and effectively.

"I think it's also a strategic commitment to upward mobility exported to other countries, in the form of improved health and stronger civil societies," she said.

The Gates Foundation has focused on reducing hunger and fighting disease in developing countries as well as improving education in the U.S. Without Buffett's pledge, it had an endowment of $29.2 billion as of the end of 2005.

Meanwhile, companies and their foundations gave less in 2006, dropping 10.5 percent to $12.72 billion. Jolly said corporate giving fell because companies had been so generous in response to the natural disasters and because profits overall were less strong in 2006 over the year before.

The Giving USA report counts money given to foundations as well as grants the foundations make to nonprofits and other groups, since foundations typically give out only income earned without spending the original donations.

[my2centss]

Makes me proud to be American. Thank-you America.

[toolmangler-2009]

I know many more who give a large percentage of their income and go virtually unnoticed.
Posted by R-U-KIDDING at 11:05 AM : Jun 25, 2007


I do too. I also know many that make two or three times what I do on retirement (soc sec only) and don't give a dime. I do more by accident (to help people) than they do on purpose. Maybe the money that Gates and Buffet give to research might slow my Cirrhosis and give me time to help more people but if it doesn't, OK I am happy with my life as it is. If you hate the stuff you see, go help some one , thats all I would ask of you just don't dis those that are trying to help with what ever they give. Believe me it is needed.

[hypnotoad72]

On an "income/donation" ratio, I've given out more than Gates or Buffet. But because I (and others like me who do donate) don't have $50 billion, nobody's going to say a thing about we, the people who live on far less money than they do.

This is not slamming either man for donating; the cause is ALWAYS just.

This is proof the "article" is more an advertisement for two rich people.

zootallures2 makes a good point too; New Orleans and other areas wouldn't be in such a bad shape if the government and humanitarians spent more time there. Ditto for the people who LIVE there; they too need to do their part. Everybody does. All we saw from that region was looting and bias. And that's got to change too.

[zootallures2]

I give to charities but not religious ones! All they do with the money is to try and impose their belief's upon people who don't believe the same as they do. It's become a money making racket in this country. Anyone who is dumb enough to donate to religious charities deserves to be be taken to the cleaners.
Posted by grumpas at 10:54 AM : Jun 25, 2007

Like, capitalism, MTV and Hollywood is not a religion...LOL! I believe it's called satan worship.

[r-u-kidding]

It's great that Warren Buffett is giving money to the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation, but think about this. He pledged $30 billon over the next 20 years. That's $1.5 billion per year which he started giving in 2006. So his balance on the $30 billion to be donated is down to $28.5 billion (30b-1.5b=28.5 billion. Well $28.5 billion invested at a conservative 5.5% rate of return would provide $1.567 billion per year. So, at the end of the 20 years, he will still have his $30 Billion dollars in the bank as the principle that he started with. Now I'm not saying that it's not great that he's giving away $1.5 billion a year, but he's not giving away even a small portion of the money he's built up and everybody's making a HUGE deal out of what he's doing. I know many more who give a large percentage of their income and go virtually unnoticed.

[zootallures2]

This is proof that the USA is the greatest country in the world.

Posted by processor2 at 10:52 AM : Jun 25, 2007

Many of the people are. But the organizations who collect are stealing the money or using it for sinister plans. And it really doesn't help to feed 200,000 and then bomb 2 million either. There has been some improvement as the idiots start to notice the swindle monster is starting to eat itself.

[zootallures2]

So, why is there still poverty and starvation? Why is New Orleans still a mess? Because you are crooks. Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is the rich giving money to themselves and preventing other nations from competing. Maybe Bill should educate CNN so they can find Afghanastan on a map. Your global plan and propaganda might turn on you if the troops are so stupid they mistake Tel Aviv for Baghdad...lol.

[grumpas]

I give to charities but not religious ones! All they do with the money is to try and impose their belief's upon people who don't believe the same as they do. It's become a money making racket in this country. Anyone who is dumb enough to donate to religious charities deserves to be be taken to the cleaners.