NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 7, 2005

CONTACT: Nancy Roberts, CT Council on Philanthropy, 860-525-5585

 

New Report Reveals that
New Englanders ARE Generous

New Englanders Give More than People in Rest of Country
to Non-Religious Causes

A new research study reveals New England donations for secular causes exceed the average U.S. levels. Findings of widespread New England generosity shed new light on commonly reported figures that purport to show that people in some other regions of the nation give more than New Englanders do.

The new research shows:

  • Many more New Englanders give to charity than in other regions of the country.
  • New England households are much more likely to give, and give more on average, to secular or non-religious causes than their national counterparts.
  • Higher levels of religious giving elsewhere in the U.S. tend to drive total giving figures.

The study, A Closer Look at New England Giving (November 2005) was conducted by the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University and co-funded by organizations in the six New England States: Connecticut Council for Philanthropy, Associated Grantmakers, Maine Center for Philanthropy, New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, Rhode Island Foundation, and Vermont Community Foundation.

"This study confirms what many of us have believed for years -- that New Englanders give generously to community causes," said Nancy Roberts, executive director of the Connecticut Council for Philanthropy. "We have long suspected that the disparities in religious and secular giving held the key to understanding our region’s giving patterns in relation to the rest of the country. Now we have the data that supports our theories."

"We believe that New England’s strong history of deep connections to our communities translates to higher giving to those organizations that shore up those communities," she said. "Obviously, the organizations that serve our region, our cities and towns continue to need support to carry out their work. It is gratifying to know that we have many generous people who see those needs and respond."

The new report, A Closer Look at New England Giving, is based upon analysis of survey data from a nationally representative sample of households in nine Census Bureau regions. The data was collected in the Center on Philanthropy Panel Study (COPPS), a recently added module of a survey called the Panel Study of Income Dynamics that has been ongoing for almost 40 years.

This data allows for a comparison of households that report giving on their income tax returns as well as those that do not. Past charitable giving analyses have relied upon IRS charitable deduction data, which enabled a look at itemizers only. State-specific survey research has not permitted regional and national comparisons on secular giving.

The new findings also indicate that the commitment to giving in New England is found across all segments of the community, varying only based upon income or wealth – that is, capacity to give. Giving in other regions of the country is more determined by association with a religious faith, marital status, and age of head of household.

The Connecticut Council for Philanthropy is a nonprofit association of foundations and corporate giving programs in Connecticut. Its mission is to promote and support effective philanthropy throughout the state. For more information about the Connecticut Council for Philanthropy call 860-525-5585 or go to www.CTphilanthropy.org.

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Report Highlights

Many more New Englanders give to charity than people in other parts of the country:

o 82% of households in New England are donors, versus 67% in other parts of the U.S.

New Englanders are more likely to give – and to give higher amounts -- to secular (non-religious) causes:

o More than 75% of New Englanders give to secular causes compared with 56% of households nationally.

o New Englanders donate on average $1,190 to secular causes, versus $863 from donors in the rest of the U.S.

Lower religious giving among New Englanders accounts for the difference in overall giving levels:

o While the percentage of households that donate something to religious causes is similar (close to 45% in the U.S. versus nearly 49% in New England), New England donors contribute only 0.6% of income on average to religion vs. 2.1% among religious donors nationally.

o Average donations to places of worship/ministries total $1,743 per donor household in the U.S., but only $918 per New England donor.