Americans are often cited as the most generous people in the world! Did you know that giving by individuals -- people like you and me -- accounted for 88 percent of all donations made in 2011?
Today the Giving USA Foundation and its research partner, the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, release their annual look at philanthropy in the United States (a survey done annually since 1956), and the news for 2011 is very interesting, giving a snapshot of not just the landscape of charitable donations but of our people and country overall.
Here are some interesting facts. There was $298.42 billion given in 2011 from the U.S., an increase of 4 percent (but just +.9 percent in inflation-adjusted dollars) from 2010's $286.91 billion. Continuing long-term trends, 73 percent came from INDIVIDUALS. That's right. Even counting the huge dollars given each year by such organizations as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, George Soros' Open Society Foundations and other very familiar foundations, individuals gave, in amounts both big and small, 73 percent of all donations last year.
And, as shared earlier in this blog, when bequests and family foundations are added to this amount the total given by individuals was 88%!
The 2011 report shows some encouraging signs. Americans are continuing to give, they are feeling slightly more confident in doing so and they continue to believe in Making a Difference. While that is all good news, there is also the sobering news that the last two years, while showing increases in giving, represent the slowest recovery in 40 years after a recession. It's not surprising that as long as there is continued volatility in the economy, charitable giving will reflect this reality in the coming months and years.
So how to look at this...and what does it mean for you and for me?
Well, it means that American individuals are Making a Difference -- much more than corporations and more than the largest foundations -- by supporting the critical and essential work done by the more than 1.5 million charities in the U.S. as they address issues and needs around the world.
It means that individuals -- just like you -- have a voice in what gets done and how.
And it means that YOU can make change happen, with $10 or $100 or $1,000 or much more, and that the causes you care about are getting their work done because you make it possible.
Here is where American giving is coming from...
... and where it's going, with the subsectors that saw increases:
These subsectors saw decreases in donations:
So how do you fit in?
Most importantly is to recognize that you, and your family, truly Make a Difference (M.A.D.). Other studies have shown that about ½ of all donations are made by households with incomes under $100,000 meaning every single donation contributes to making things happen.
Here are five (5) tips consider when deciding on your charitable donations this year that will ensure you are Making A Difference (M.A.D.):
After all, though giving is increasing, the need is great and it could take a decade or more to return to pre-recession giving levels. So take a look at where you want to Make a Difference; there are lots of ways to get there. Just consider, are you M.A.D. today?
To learn more about the study on 2011 giving, please visit:
www.givingusa.org
www.philanthropy.iupui.edu
www.givingusareports.org
Follow Lisa M. Dietlin on Twitter: www.twitter.com/lisadietlin
We try to do just that - to the tune of $952 Billion this year. That's $250 Billion more than the defense budget. The problem is that the goverment does not create jobs, the private sector does. Affordable housing? Vast sums of money have been spent on public housing in the last 50 years, and most of those places are crime infested slums. As for helping the poor, anti-poverty spending in the US amounts ot $21,000 per year for each person living below the poverty line. Apparently it is not being well spent.
Americans have more people living in poverty than any other industrialized nation per capita, we have more children going to bed hungry than any other industrialized nation per capita, we have more people filing bankruptcy due to medical expenses than any other industrialized nation per capita,
Need I go on. capitalism has created a very selfish and greed oriented culture in america and wall street is the poster child for that greed with big banks a close second, and vulture capitalism corporations a close third.
Bill Gates? come on the man was allowed to have complete control of the software industry without being broken up as capitalism is supposed to work best with its idea of competition drives improvements.
And he gives some of it back. get real. it is a PR stunt because he had to go before congress and they acted like they were going to break him up.
If all that reelection money to buy congress and the white house and tax the rich and stop these tax breaks to corporations was used for poverty and medical care then we may have a case for americans being a generous nation.
Interestingly, Thailand is the most generous nation, individually, followed by the UK.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16260782
"US tops world charitable giving index"
http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/topic/humanitarian-services
I think that it is hard to seperate out what really benefits someone "politically or financially." After all, one could say that a person could give a lot to a church and receive personal benefits. You can support feeding the poor and have it benefit yourself. Yet, you could give to Planned Parenthood with the aim of providing health care for women, and you could turn that around and say that it is a political move.
You can twist things anyway you want.
You twisted what I said. I never said undefined benefit i.e. happiness. Nor did I say that conservatives help the poor for benefit although liberals do. Try again.