How Americans Decide to Give and How Much They Donate

October 16, 2003 | Read Time: 1 minute

		By gender		By age					By annual income
	Total	Male	Female	18-24	25-36	37-55	56-71	72 and older	Less than $30,000	$30,000 to $49,999	$50,000 to $74,999	$75,000 or more
Sum contributed to charity in the past 12 months
$1 to $99	37%	34%	40%	57%	36%	36%	31%	35%	46%	40%	37%	21%
$100 to $249	22	20	24	15	25	19	27	27	20	24	26	20
$250 to $499	12	14	10	4	10	13	16	9	6	13	12	18
$500 to $999	7	8	7	2	7	9	8	5	3	5	8	16
$1,000 to $5,000	6	7	5	1	3	9	5	7	2	3	5	16
More than $5,000	1	1	1	0	0	1	1	2	1	0	1	2
None	14	15	14	22	19	12	11	14	21	14	11	7
		By gender		By age					By annual income
	Total	Male	Female	18-24	25-36	37-55	56-71	72 and older	Less than $30,000	$30,000 to $49,999	$50,000 to $74,999	$75,000 or more
Types of organizations supported
Health	52	47	57	44	43	53	58	65	50	48	54	57
Community service	40	40	41	20	33	45	47	41	38	40	39	45
Food and hunger	40	37	43	31	35	41	47	45	40	43	37	40
Children’s	39	38	40	29	41	40	42	34	38	42	38	40
Religious	39	35	42	27	32	40	46	50	39	40	35	42
Safety and disaster relief	37	34	39	30	31	39	40	42	36	35	36	40
Homeless and shelters	36	30	40	31	29	40	36	36	36	34	36	37
Education	27	26	28	20	25	31	22	29	23	22	26	37
Animals and the environment	22	19	24	19	20	22	23	26	22	21	19	24
Social services	15	12	17	7	10	14	19	29	17	14	15	14
Political	14	15	12	6	7	14	19	20	10	11	13	21
None of the above	5	6	5	12	6	4	5	3	7	6	2	4
		By gender		By age					By annual income
	Total	Male	Female	18-24	25-36	37-55	56-71	72 and older	Less than $30,000	$30,000 to $49,999	$50,000 to $74,999	$75,000 or more
Sources of information on organizations donors support
Direct mail	59	57	61	49	48	60	69	69	59	56	60	62
Special event/fund raiser	45	41	50	38	46	50	42	40	39	49	43	51
Friends or relatives	41	37	45	48	46	42	37	32	40	42	39	44
Church	40	39	40	31	35	42	42	44	38	40	37	43
Employer-sponsored program	26	26	27	19	37	33	16	3	17	24	32	37
Telemarketers	20	18	23	14	22	22	20	18	20	21	20	22
Telethons	20	20	20	20	15	21	20	20	21	19	19	18
Internet	16	20	13	26	16	18	11	7	14	14	17	20
Infomercials	9	10	8	11	7	9	9	10	10	7	8	9
None of the above	7	8	5	11	8	5	7	5	8	7	6	4
		By gender		By age					By annual income
	Total	Male	Female	18-24	25-36	37-55	56-71	72 and older	Less than $30,000	$30,000 to $49,999	$50,000 to $74,999	$75,000 or more
Characteristics of direct mail that influence whether it is opened
Name on the front of the envelope	62	62	61	51	56	64	64	72	62	64	62	59
Timing of arrival and need for product	59	55	61	58	56	61	57	54	54	64	58	61
Package looks interesting	49	50	47	54	44	47	52	54	51	53	46	44
Package looks important	40	36	42	37	38	39	42	48	42	44	37	35
Special offer or discount	30	27	31	33	25	30	39	41	36	30	29	22
Dated material enclosed	29	27	30	35	31	28	26	31	33	39	28	17
Free token or gift inside	28	23	32	19	23	32	28	33	34	33	28	17
None of the above	8	7	8	10	10	6	8	5	10	5	8	7
SOURCE: Vertis Customer Focus 2003