Make giving a part of your financial plan
A small part of my job is to counsel new homebuyers as part of Ohio Housing Finance Agency’s educational outreach. I consult with excited homebuyers anticipating what life will look like once they are in their home. Like you might expect, some people I talk with are savers and others are not. Many people do not include saving money in their monthly budget.
Another trend I am noticing is the lack of giving in anyone’s budget, regardless of tendencies toward saving. My definition of giving is not Christmas presents or birthday gifts. Giving means contributing a donation towards an organization or a cause.
Indiana University compiles an annual report on philanthropy. This includes the most popular categories of non-government organizations (NGO), nonprofit organization (NPO) and charities. The themes include religion, education, human services, foundations, health, public-society benefit, international affairs, environmental, animal and arts, culture and humanities. They found Americans were not giving as much last year.
As I researched this charitable giving topic, I compiled statistics from Vanco (a support company for non-profit and religious organizations) and Nonprofits Source (digital marketing company). I also read an excellent article by Elliott Appel, a financial planner in Wisconsin. Here is the current state of giving.
American generosity: The people of the U.S. give far more than any other country, with an estimated 1.44% of our gross domestic product. However, about one-third of U.S. households do not give anything. Of the two-thirds that do give, they donate an average of 4% of their income.
Don’t assume people making more money give and people making less do not. One in 10 people making above $125,000 do not give. About 37% of people who make under $25,000 give to charity and they give 12% of their income.
Who gives: People of all ages are giving, but older people give more. The average donor age in the U.S. is age 65. Wealth can certainly accumulate with time. But as we’ve seen, having more money does not equate to giving more money.
The silent generation are those in their 80s and 90s with 88% of them giving to charity, donating an annual average of $1,367 across 6.2 organizations. A greater percentage of Millennials give than Boomers, but Boomers donate about three times as much as Millennials.
What we support: Giving to religious congregations, denominations, missionary societies and religious media remains America’s single largest recipient of charitable giving. Faith and religious services receive more than twice as much as education, which comes in second. Last year half of the population gave to religious organizations and about one-third of charitable gifts went to faith and religious services.
The average giving amount per churchgoer is $17 per week, which equates to $884 a year. A sobering fact is the total income of Christians in the U.S. is $5.2 trillion annually, almost half the world’s total Christian income. Only 1% of U.S. Christian families making more than $75,000 gave at least 10% in tithing.
Is giving a part of your plan? Would you like to give more, but you are not sure how to budget what you have? Join me at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 7 at the Coshocton Public Library for Getting Ahold of Your Finances, where we will talk about the financial path you are on and set goals for where you want to be.
Today, I’ll leave you with these verses from 2 Corinthians 9:6-7: “Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”
Emily Marrison is an OSU Extension Family & Consumer Sciences Educator and may be reached at 740-622-2265.
This article originally appeared on Coshocton Tribune: Make giving a part of your financial plan
