THE
GREATEST OF THESE
The Apostle Paul in
his first letter to the Corinthians, wrote, “Now abideth faith, hope,
charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.”
That quotation appears
on the first page of
Who Really Cares, a new book by
Arthur C. Brooks, professor of public administration at Syracuse
University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. The book
examines, as its subtitle states, America’s Charity Divide: Who
Gives, Who Doesn’t and Why It Matters.
We all know we’re
supposed to give to charity, Brooks says, but he wanted to take a closer
look at who really does. What he found is both reassuring and incredibly
surprising.
Approximately three
out of four families make charitable donations, what Brooks refers to as
‘formal’ giving. When you put it in numbers, about 225 million Americans
give money away each year. The average amount is $1,800, or about 3.5%
of household income. In addition, more than half of American families
volunteer their time, engaging in ‘informal’ giving.
Brooks found through
his research that the same group of people practice both formal and
informal giving, which leaves the rest of the population doing nothing.
In fact, he says there are 75 million Americans who never give to any
causes, charities or churches and 130 million who never volunteer their
time.
Why the difference?
Consider some of the answers Brooks received when he dug a little
deeper. Those who do give say they do so because they feel they should
give to those who have less, that they owe something to their community,
because of religious beliefs or obligations or just because they were
asked. Brooks is quick to point out that no one says they do it for the
tax deduction. For the millions giving of their money, it is not about
economics, it’s about values.
On the other hand,
those who don’t give say they couldn’t afford it, weren’t asked, or
worried the money would be misused. Their reasoning about affordability
sounds logical until you consider that it’s actually the working poor
that give the largest percentage of their money away, more so than the
middle or upper classes. It’s often those in the middle and upper class
that say they can’t afford to give, and many, no doubt, feel as if
that’s true. But perhaps they might reconsider, given another finding
Brooks outlines in his book.
Those who give more
money away, get more money back. Statistics show, according to Brooks,
that givers do better economically than non-givers. If you take two
families with the same demographic profile and one of them gives, on
average, $100 more a year, it will earn (again, on average) an
additional $375 in income.
That trend also plays
out when you apply it on a national level. If giving in America was
increased by 1% this year—an additional $2 billion—that would correlate
to $38 billion in gross domestic product. Or, consider it this way. If
the 75% of people giving to charity was increased to 85%, that would
correspond with a jump in GDP of 6%.
It’s hard to argue
with the thorough research and thoughtful commentary Brooks presents in
his book. America is miles ahead of other countries when it comes to
charitable giving and a large majority are doing their part. However,
there’s always more that could be done and Brooks gives us a good place
to start with his discussion on why giving matters at all. For further
reading and more information, check out Who Really Cares: America’s
Charity Divide from Basic Books.
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