Giving Trends in the Midwest Analyzed

By HARVY LIPMAN

Affluent residents of five Midwestern states are about as generous as most other well-off Americans

when it comes to charity, according to a new report by a national organization of fund raisers.

In the first of what it expects to be a series of regional reports, the Trust for Philanthropy of the American Association of Fund-Raising Counsel details giving in what it defines as the East North Central Region: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin.

Taxpayers in that region whose annual income was between $100,000 and $200,000 gave 2.6 percent of their adjusted gross incomes to charity, compared with a national average of 2.7 percent.

Among the region’s wealthiest individuals — those whose incomes exceeded $200,000 — giving rose to 3.4 percent, somewhat shy of the national average of 3.7 percent.

The organization, which publishes a yearbook of philanthropy called Giving USA, acknowledges that its findings are based on several rough estimates, because only taxpayers who itemize their deductions report their charitable donations. Most low- and middle-income Americans don’t tell the Internal Revenue Service how much they give to charity, because they don’t itemize their deductions. And the percentage of higher-income people who itemize varies widely from state to state.

In addition, the I.R.S. doesn’t release data showing the total income of those who do itemize, making it very difficult to calculate accurately what percentage of itemizers’ income goes to charity.

The report also analyzes bequests from estates worth $600,000 or more. From 1991 to 1997, it says, 7.4 percent of the region’s estate assets were left to charity. That compares with 7.9 percent nationally.

Copies of the report are available for $35 each (with a discount for multiple copies) from the AAFRC Trust for Philanthropy by calling (317) 816-1613, or by mail at 10293 North Meridian Street, Suite 175, Indianapolis 46290.

Charitable Bequests in Five States, 1997