Majority of Americans Plan to Give During Holidays

Ninety-one percent of Americans say they plan to either give money or time directly to charities during the holiday season, or to patronize companies that do so, according to a new survey. The percentage is similar to last year’s finding that 94 percent of adults planned charitable activities during the holidays.

Cone, a public-relations company in Boston, commissioned the holiday survey for the sixth year in a row. It asked 1,064 adults, who were reached by telephone from November 8 to 11, about seven different ways to help charities.

Slightly more than three-fourths of those who answered the survey, or 76 percent, said that they plan to donate some of their belongings to charity. Fifty-eight percent of respondents said they planned to purchase products in which a portion of the price goes to a charity. A slim majority — 53 percent — said they planned to shop at stores that “support a cause.” The same proportion said they planned to give money directly to a charity around holiday time.

Forty-two percent of respondents said they planned to volunteer, while 32 percent planned to attend a fund-raising event. The least popular giving activity: using the Internet to get involved with charity during the holidays, which only 13 percent of Americans plan to do.

Anne Leslie, a spokeswoman for Cone, said that the results have not changed measurably since the company first started conducting the survey. Its main purpose, she said, is to show businesses that they should link their products to charitable causes.

Details of the survey are available in a free report, “2002 Cone Holiday Trend Tracker,” which can be ordered by writing Ms. Leslie at aleslie@coneinc.com or calling (617) 272-8403.