Study Shows Gifts by Entrepreneurs

Business owners are more likely than other Americans to support charities, according to a new survey. And, the survey found, three out of four entrepreneurs contribute through their businesses as well as through personal gifts.

The survey of 226 female and 235 male business owners was conducted by the National Foundation for Women Business Owners, in Washington. Merrill Lynch & Company’s Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Management paid for the study.

The survey found that 90 percent of business owners contribute to charity. By comparison, findings published last year by Independent Sector, a Washington coalition of nonprofit groups, showed that 70 percent of American households make charitable gifts.

The Independent Sector report also said that 60 percent of women and half of men volunteer their time for charity at least once in a typical month. The new survey of business owners found that about 70 percent of entrepreneurs — men and women — volunteer at that monthly rate.

A report on the survey, “Leaders in Business and Community: The Philanthropic Contributions of Women and Men Business Owners,” is available for $90, including shipping, from the National Foundation for Women Business Owners, 1411 K Street, N.W., Suite 1350, Washington 20005-3407; (202) 638-3060; http://www.nfwbo.org.