More Than a Third of Americans Increase Gifts Over the Holidays

More than a third of all Americans give more money to charities during the month of December than throughout the rest of the year, a new survey has found.

The research, commissioned by the Lutheran Brotherhood, in Minneapolis, was based on a nationally representative poll of 1,047 adult Americans who were interviewed in October. Thirty-four per cent of the respondents said that they gave more to non-profit groups during December than at any other time.

The survey, conducted by Yankelovich Partners, a New York polling company, also found that only 4 per cent of those surveyed said that they gave at the end of the year to increase their tax deductions. “Giving during the holidays comes from the heart — not from the tax adviser,” said Todd Gillingham, manager of individual planning at Lutheran Brotherhood. “People seem to believe in the causes they give money to, rather than thinking, ‘What’s in it for me?’”

For more information, contact David Rustad, Manager of Public Relations, Lutheran Brotherhood, 625 Fourth Avenue South, Minneapolis 55315; (612) 340-7037.