Most Americans Give Generously to Help Others, Survey Shows

George Barna, founder of research organization Barna Group, at the Values Voter Summit in Washington on Sept. 22, 2018. (Holly Kellum/ The Epoch Times)

Nearly two-thirds of all Americans say they contribute regularly to secular and faith-based charitable groups, with the percentage rising to 90 percent among those who attend a Christian church at least once a month and who say their faith is important to them, according to a new report by the Barna Group.

“Overall, three in five U.S. adults (60 percent) report having given to a charitable organization (including churches and houses of worship) within the year,” the Ventura, California-based survey research group has found.

Fully 80 percent of those surveyed described themselves as either “completely generous” (28 percent) or “somewhat generous” (52 percent), according to the group’s August 2022 report, titled “The Giving Landscape.”

“True to their generous self-assessment, Christians, and especially practicing Christians, stand out among annual donors. An overwhelming 90 percent of practicing Christians report charitable giving of some kind,” the group reports.

“By comparison, non-practicing Christians (that is, self-identified Christians who do not attend church at least monthly or say their faith is important to them) fall more in line with the national average (61 percent),” the survey indicates. “The slight majority of non-Christians (55 percent), meanwhile, does not report any charitable donation.”

The survey was conducted in two parts, with an initial group last November that included 2,016 U.S. adults. The margin of error for that segment is plus or minus 2 percentage points, with a 95 percent confidence level. The second part, in March, included 79 “high-capacity givers”—individuals with at least $300,000 in annual income. Because the participants self-selected to be included, the second part isn’t considered a random or scientific sample, but is useful for informational purposes.

A large proportion of Americans’ giving goes to local organizations, especially churches with which the donors have some connection, according to the report.

“Most of this giving (57 percent) goes to local organizations. This could overlap with the gifts of the two in five U.S. adults (39 percent) who financially support a local church. Donors are also looking beyond their area, giving to organizations (43 percent) and sometimes churches (14 percent) outside their local community,” the report said.

The report also found that, while the vast majority (80 percent) of practicing Christians support their local church financially, nearly half (48 percent) also support other organizations in their communities and 44 percent of them support organizations outside their communities.

Measured in terms of dollar amounts given in the past year, practicing Christians said they gave on average a total of $3,004, with $2,041 of that donated to churches and $575 going to non-religious groups. For non-Christians, annual giving totaled $526, with most of the total going to non-religious groups. 

When viewed by generations, the oldest Americans—members of the elder and baby boomer generations—are the most generous, according to Barna. Elders, also known as the Silent Generation, gave an annual total of $3,158 on average, with $1,707 going to churches, $378 to other religious organizations, and $1,112 going to non-religious groups of all kinds.

Boomers gave a total of $1,068, Barna Group found, while Gen Xers gave $844 overall, millennials $707, and Gen Zers $269. Even among the latter group, the most giving went to churches, with the least going to other non-religious groups.

The results show little difference in giving percentages when the data is viewed by ethnicity. Hispanic adults showed the highest percentage of givers (67 percent), while Asian adults were next at 62 percent. Black and white Americans were tied at 59 percent.

“The U.S. Church is a generosity engine, both a primary recipient of charitable giving and an environment filled with generous practicing Christians—people who give often, widely, in an ongoing manner, and sometimes in high amounts. The donations that make their way to and through local churches are a powerful force, in the country and in the world,” the report observed.

The Barna Group’s findings are consistent with other recent research. Axios reported in March that the United States was the most generous nation on Earth during the past decade.

“America was the world’s most generous country this past decade, according to the Charities Aid Foundation’s World Giving Index, which surveyed 1.3 million people in 125 countries. Not only do we give money, but 72 percent of Americans help strangers and 42 percent of us volunteer.

“We grew more generous during the pandemic: 2020 and 2021 donations each topped 2019 ... This cuts across religion, region, and age, with nearly 60 percent of Americans giving money last year. Average donation: $574.”

Barna (Research) Group was founded by George Barna in 1984. He sold the market research firm to a group of its employees in 2009 and is now a professor at Arizona Christian University, where he also leads the Cultural Research Center.