Trovena Weblog

Reader Poll: What percent of your income do you give to charity?

Studies abound show that the amount that people donate to charity is correlated (not necessariy positively) to their household income, age and other demographics.  There are some interesting articles about this topic that I will write about later, but for now I wanted to take a poll among readers.  What percent of your income do you donate to charity?

How do you choose which charity gets yor donations?

Giving by individuals continues be dominate the landscape of charitable giving.  Individual giving consistently ranks somewhere around 75% of all charitable giving in America.

So, the question is how, out of approximately 1.4 million different charities to choose from, do you select whom is going to get your charitable gifting dollars?

People generally give to those charities with which they feel a personal, emotional connection.  This is why universities, religious organizations and hospitals are continually among the most successful fund-raisers.  You feel connected to your alma mater, your church, and the hospital that treated you or someone you love very well through difficult times.

But what are the other ways that people determine which charities to support?

Do you make charitable contributions to your alma mater?

RING!  RING!

Me:  "Hello?"

Voice on the other end:  "Hello, may I speak with Eric?"

Me:  "You got him."

Voice on the other end:  "Hi Eric this is Jimmie from the USC Annual Giving office.  I'm currently a business major, about to finish my junior year."

Me:  "Cool.  I was a business major."  (of course, they already knew that)

Jimmie:  "That's great.  Did you live on campus?  I live in Webb Tower."

Me:  "No way, I lived in Webb Tower!  In fact, I was an RA there."  (and of course, they already knew that too)

Jimmie:  "You should see the remodeling that they have done to the place.  The whole building has wireless Internet.  I love living there."

Me:  "Glad to hear that.  I had some great times in that building."

Jimmie:  "Of course, we rely on contributions from alumni like yourself to continually update and modernize the campus facilities, as well as attract world class faculty.  We thank you for your generous donation last year.  Can we count on a larger contribution this year?"

Me:  "Sure, what the heck."

This morning, I read an article entitled, "The Key to Alumni Giving" in The Journal of Queen's University in Ontario, Canada.  It is an interesting insight to the behind the scenes work of the University fundraisers at their various levels.

What is Planned Giving?

The concept of planned giving is anything but new.  In fact, my guess is that it has been going on for a few centuries.  Recently, however, there seems to be a buzz in the non-profit, fundraising community around planned giving.  "What is it?"  "How does it work?"  Most importantly, "how do we get some of it?"

Do you sponsor or participate in fund raising marathons, triathlons, 5 day bike rides, etc?

I did.  It was about nine years ago.  I was sitting in the waiting area of Supercuts, waiting for my buzz and trim, when I saw a flier for the AIDS marathon training program.  I always thought it would be a great personal accomplishment to say that I ran a marathon.  Besides, I would be raising money for a great cause, AIDS research, education and support programs.  Not to mention that I was a few years out of college, and my Freshman Fifteen had turned into the Through with College Thirty (actually forty, but I was going for the alliteration).

But just last week we were talking about American's perception of the proportion of donations that go not to the end charitable cause, but to overhead and fund-raising expenses.  So, looking back on my experience, this is my attempt to recreate the expenses that were involved and how much actually may have gone to the charitable causes.

How much should a charity spend on overhead?

How much is too much?  We would all like to believe that every penny that we give to charity goes directly toward the end cause.  A nail for Habitat for Humanity, a band-aid for the Red Cross, and a pencil for the Boys & Girls Club.  But we all know that life is not so simple.  Even charities need to buy computers, turn the lights on, and pay staff.  Yes, staff.  And that includes (gasp!) fundraising staff!  You mean charities raise money to pay people to raise money?

But how much is too much?  A recent study by Ellison Research revealed that most Americans believe most non-profits spend too much on overhead.