Americans Say Poor Economy Could Fuel Interest in Gifts of Charitable Donations, Polls Find

November 27, 2008 | Read Time: 2 minutes

Amid widespread concerns about the economy, Americans are planning to cut their holiday spending but not their charitable giving, according to two new surveys.

In fact, some Americans may actually increase their year-end giving, as they make donations in the name of friends and family members in lieu of purchasing presents.

A study conducted for PayPal, the online payment service, found that 73 percent of Americans intend to make charitable contributions this holiday season, compared with 60 percent in 2007.

That giving comes even though Americans are trimming their holiday spending. Seventy percent of people in the PayPal survey, which was conducted in mid-October by the group Ipsos, said they would spend less on presents this year.

“In times like these, while people are spending less on gifts, the spirit of giving around the holidays is still very much alive,” said Cliff Hopkins, senior director of PayPal.

Helping Others

Some charities might even benefit from Americans’ reduced holiday spending, as 49 percent of people in a second study said they were more likely to give a “charitable gift,” such as a child sponsorship, a goat, or medical care for a family overseas, as a holiday present.

Eighty-four percent of people in the study, which was conducted for the charity World Vision by Harris Interactive, said they would prefer to receive a gift that would benefit someone else rather than a traditional present.

The study showed that Americans enjoy giving and receiving presents, but do not necessarily need or care deeply about the gifts they receive.

Nearly 60 percent of people in the survey, which was conducted in late October, said they wanted a gift for the holidays, but only about one-third said they needed something and more than half could not remember what they had received the previous year.

More information on the studies is at http://www.prnewswire.com/mnr/worldvision/36058 and at https://www.paypal-media.com/releases.cfm.