New Survey Details the Giving Patterns of Homosexuals

Homosexuals donate equally to gay and non-gay causes, aside from their giving to AIDS organizations, a new survey has found.

The survey looked at giving and volunteering patterns among more than 2,200 gay, lesbian, bisexual, and “transgendered” people whose names appeared on mailing lists of organizations that serve them in Milwaukee, Philadelphia, and San Francisco.

The survey divided charities into three categories: those that deal with issues of concern to homosexuals, those that focus on AIDS, and all other kinds of charities. AIDS organizations were put in a category by themselves because “not all AIDS-related groups are specifically focused on gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people,” says Lee Badgett, executive director of the Institute for Gay and Lesbian Strategic Studies.

Of the people in the survey who donated to charity, the average gift during the previous year was $503 to gay, lesbian, and bisexual groups, $166 to AIDS charities, and $524 to other kinds of organizations. The total, $1,194, represented 2.5 per cent of the donors’ income.

Conducted by the institute and the Working Group on Funding Lesbian and Gay Issues in New York, the survey also found that among the homosexuals who volunteered, the average amount of time donated was 19 hours — 13 hours a month volunteering for gay, lesbian, and bisexual organizations, 4 hours for AIDS charities, and 12 hours for other groups.

A report on the survey compares its findings with the general population using data from Independent Sector’s 1996 survey “Giving and Volunteering in the United States,” but it acknowledges that it is difficult to draw clear comparisons. Independent Sector surveyed 2,600 people chosen at random nationwide and listed donations by household, not by individuals.

Independent Sector’s survey found that among people in the general population who made donations to charity, the average amount each household contributed was 2.2 per cent of income, or $1,017.

Copies of the report, “Creating Communities: Giving and Volunteering by Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender People” are available from the Working Group on Funding Lesbian and Gay Issues, 116 East 16th Street, New York 10003; (212) 475-2930.