This study says that individuals over $60,000 contribute more as a percentage of income, but not as a consistent proportion across the board. However, their overall level of giving is much greater:
Factors Affecting Individual Gifts
Several factors influence the percentage of income an individual donates to charity. The level of income itself is important insofar as the dollar amount donated is concerned. However, there is no constant relationship between income and donations as a percentage of income. For example, donors earning less than $20,000 give more to nonprofits as a percentage of income than those earning between $50,000 and $100,000. The average donor earning less than $10,000 in 1994 gave just over $200 to charitable organizations, or 2.7 percent of income; donors earning between $40,000 and $50,000 gave approximately $575, or only 1.3 percent of income.
Income level also directly influences the type of organization to which an individual donates. Upper-income individuals are more likely to give to the arts and humanities, environmental causes, and educational institutions. Lower-income individuals tend to give to religious congregations and human service groups. In 1993, the average income for donors to the arts and humanities was $56,535; the average for donors to environmental causes was $50,922; and the average for donors to educational institutions was $50,527. On the other end of the spectrum, the average income of donors to religious organizations was $40,923, and the average for donors to human service organizations was $47,099.18
Put another way, an individual donor earning over $60,000 per year is seven times more likely to contribute to the arts and humanities than a donor earning less than $20,000 per year; donations to educational institutions are 4.3 times more likely to come from wealthier individuals; and wealthier individuals are 3.7 times more likely to donate to environmental causes. On the other hand, wealthy donors (again, those earning more than $60,000 per year) are only 1.5 times more likely to donate to religious organizations and only 2.9 times more likely to donate to human service organizations.
These differences are significant when considering changes in the tax code. Independent Sector, a national coalition of voluntary organizations, foundations, and corporate giving programs which encourages philanthropy and nonprofit initiatives, estimates that 65.3 percent of donors to the arts and humanities plan to itemize. Only 44.4 percent of donors to human services are itemizers, and only 38.1 percent of those who donate to religious organizations find it advantageous to itemize on their federal income tax returns.
Several demographic factors influence the amount of income an individual donates to charity, regardless of income level. The most important are age, marital status, and church participation. In general, older individuals who have been married and who attend church regularly tend to donate a larger percentage of their income to charitable organizations than do young, single, non-church attending individuals. Specifically, retirees (individuals over the age of 65) give about 3.4 percent of their income to nonprofits. Those below the age of 45 give an average of about 1.6 percent of their income to charity. Likewise, those who are married or who have been married in the past donate about twice as much on average (as a percentage of income) as do single individuals.
Perhaps the single most important indicator in determining an individual's level of charitable giving (to all charitable causes, not just religious congregations) is church attendance. In 1994, donors who attended church gave an average of 2.2 percent of their income to charity; those who did not attend church averaged only 1.4 percent. With specific reference to the frequency of church attendance, again in 1994, donors who attended church services weekly donated an average of 3.3 percent of their income to nonprofits; those who attended monthly averaged 1.4 percent; and those who attended only once or twice a year averaged only 1 percent.
There are two major conclusions to be drawn from any study of the donor community. First, individuals constitute by far the largest source of donations, contributing nearly 81 percent of all donations. Second, upper-income individuals (those most likely to itemize and therefore to be directly affected by elimination of the charitable contribution deduction) give primarily to the arts, hospitals, and universities. The majority of non-itemizers give to churches and human service organizations. These individuals, by and large, would not be affected negatively by the elimination of the charitable contribution deduction.
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