Most Americans Made a Gift to Charity in Past 2 Years

Nine in 10 Americans have made a donation to charity within the past two years, a new survey has found.

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Americans’ Views on Charitable Giving

And 93 per cent of Americans believe that their giving makes a difference to the causes they support.

The survey of 1,000 men and women was conducted in May for Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund, a hugely popular but controversial grant-making charity that was established by Fidelity Investments in 1992.

The purpose of the poll was to help the fund’s managers gain a better understanding of what motivates individuals to give, what form their donations take — whether cash, in-kind gifts, or stock — and how familiar they are with so-called donor-advised funds.

Those types of funds are available through charities such as Fidelity’s and though community foundations. The funds allow donors a say in what causes they want to support, and the organization offering the funds takes care of the administrative and legal matters involved in making a gift. While donor-advised funds have long been available, only 38 per cent of Americans say they know what such funds are.

Critics, particularly community foundations, say that philanthropies such as the one set up by Fidelity are driven by commercial interests. They also complain that the funds grant donors more control over their gifts than is legally permissible.

Still, the funds have proved to be enormously successful with donors, in part because they simplify the process of giving. Fidelity’s gift fund has collected more than $2-billion from donors since its inception, and it has distributed more than $1-billion to tens of thousands of charities.

Among the survey’s findings:

* Seventy-two per cent of respondents said they had donated cash to charity, while only 3 per cent had made stock gifts.

* Only 20 per cent said they would decrease their giving to charity if donations were no longer tax deductible.

* Almost two-thirds said they always or sometimes conduct research on a charity before making a donation. But only one-third said they follow up with the organization to see if their gift is being used effectively.

* Almost two-thirds said that donations to small charities can make more of a difference than donations to large organizations.

A summary of the key findings of the survey, titled “The Charitable Giving Omnibus Study,” is available free by calling Fidelity’s gift fund at (800) 682-4438.