I keep hearing that Americans give more to charity than any other country. America is also the richest country so it makes sense. But WHERE do the charitable donations really come from?
How are these numbers counted? It would be great to see the breakdown. How much of it is from the 1% income crowd? Is it corporate or individual? How much from the low and middle class? Break it down to a percentage of personal or corporate donations. To be real, maybe one should even remove all the tax right offs given by the government, even though they are greatly appreciated.
When does donated time and energy enter into the 2013 Charitable Giving of $335.17 Billion (pages 21 & 22)? Of course one must then break down the numbers as noted above. What I want to know is the real breakdown of charitable efforts. Is this Billion dollar a real number or does this number include the giving of charitable donations with right offs?
On one of my non-profit boards, the rule of thumb is to give about 5% of the funds on hand to the groups of our choice for the issues in our mission statement. The groups who receive our donations use the funds for their efforts. These activities assist our society in very different ways. I know the time I spend and the donation our non-profit gives make a big difference. This money came from one big private donor. We never know if this donation is a right off or if it really is altruistic. In terms of the funds it probably does not make a difference. If the funds then reduced the amount of taxes being paid for general services for the government then the funds were just being directed away from the government directed causes to a specific direction chosen by the donor. I’m not so sure you could call it a charitable gift as it took away from our elected representative’s governments’ opportunity to direct the funds. Remember, you vote for the people who then re-distribute taxes to hopefully the best uses to move our country into the future while providing for the ability for Life, Freedom and the ability to Prosper to all citizens.
I think providing time, energy, and funds to groups of all types are fantastic. I am happy to be an American knowing the giving history we have. Whether you take credit for giving or not does not make a difference. Giving does. Assist those with what you can, especially during the holiday season. Love your family, friends, and world citizens as your own!