One third of donors skip giving in some years.

Roughly six in 10 U.S. households contribute to charity routinely, according to new findings from the Center on Philanthropy Panel Study (COPPS) at Indiana University. But, nearly one-third of donors take a year off.

The ongoing survey asked the same 8,000 families about their charitable gifts made in 2000, 2002 and 2004. While the total percentage of households that gave was similar in all three years (67 to 69 percent), it was not always the same households. The study found that nearly one third of households shift between donating and not donating.

Because COPPS asks the same families about their giving in different years, for the first time researchers can determine the proportion of people nationwide who switch back and forth between giving and not giving. "Nonprofits' ability to encourage donors to keep giving is vital to raising needed funds. Finding that a sizeable portion of people who give in one year do not make any gifts at all the following year opens the door to greater understanding of the factors that influence people's giving, and what causes those behaviors to change," said Eugene R. Tempel, executive director of the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University.

COPPS researchers found that 56 percent of households gave donations in each of the three years. Another three in 10 households (29 percent) contributed to charity in some but not all years studied. Just fewer than 15 percent did not contribute at all in any of the years studied.

The study found a large difference in amounts given by households that give routinely and those that give intermittently. Persistent donors, those who gave in each of the three survey years, made total charitable gifts averaging $2,659 in 2004. Occasional donors (who gave in one or two of the three years and who donated in 2004) contributed an average of $820.

These and other COPPS findings about giving in 2004 represent the latest nationally representative information about annual household giving available. Overall, 68 percent of U.S. households donated $25 or more to charity during 2004, the most recent year for which household giving data are available. Among households that gave, the average total amount given during 2004 was $2,045.

"The new data also give us important insights into the ways in which people give, such as the fact that the average donor household gives money to two or three different types of nonprofits," said Patrick M. Rooney, director of research for the Center on Philanthropy. "About 45 percent of households give to religious organizations such as houses of worship, while 60 percent give to secular organizations and 37 percent give to both types."

Other key findings about giving include:

* The largest percentage of households gave to religion, donating an average of $1,858.

* 28 percent gave to meet others' basic needs, giving $482 on average.

* 27 percent made contributions totaling an average of $502 to "combined purposes" such as United Way, Jewish federations, and other charities that raise funds to redistribute to a variety of recipient organizations.

* 23 percent donated to health causes, giving an average of $257.

* Slightly more than 24 percent of households gave during late 2004 or in 2005 for relief efforts related to the 2004 Asian tsunami, with an average gift of $121.

* Higher income donor households, those with incomes of $100,000 or more, give a lesser percentage of their income on average (2.2 percent of income) than do those with incomes under $50,000, who give 4.2 percent of their income.

* However, higher income households are more likely to give: 93 percent of higher income households reported donations of $25 or more to charity, compared to 56 percent of lower income households.

COPPS has been conducted every two years (beginning in 2001) in conjunction with the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), a landmark recurring survey by the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research initiated in 1968.

Key results of the latest survey, including percentages of households giving in 2004, average amounts contributed broken out by type of recipient organization, such as education or arts, and other findings are available under the Center on Philanthropy Panel Study section at www.philanthropy.iupui.edu/Research/giving_fundrais_ing_research.aspx

Working papers by scholars using COPPS data are also available from the Center on Philanthropy. Topics include how parental giving is linked with their adult children's giving; the amounts and percentage of income given to religion by adherents of different faith groups; and the relationship between living in an ethnically diverse community and charitable giving.

Scholars and nonprofit professionals who would like to access the COPPS dataset free of charge online in downloadable formats may contact Melissa Brown at msbrown@iupui.edu or (317) 278-8964.

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