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Past Research
CATHOLIC DONOR ATTITUDE SURVEY

FADICA (Foundations and Donors Interested in Catholic Activities, Inc.) is a consortium of private charitable foundations and individual donors who share an interest in religious philanthropy. The organization was formed in 1976 and functions primarily as a learning and leadership forum for its members. FADICA enables its members to track trends and research of significance to faith-based philanthropy, to interact with religious leaders, to help solve problems, and to mentor the next generation of foundation trustees.

FADICA is not a grant making agency nor is it able to make referrals, but does seek to improve the effectiveness of charitable grant appeals by providing assistance and information through the "Catholic Funding Guide" available through this website.

FADICA (Foundation and Donors Interested in Catholic Activities, Inc. in association with The Center for the Study of Church Management of Villanova University and Zogby International. (2004) (2005 is hot off the presses)

FADICA 2004 Catholic Donor Attitude Survey
  • Only 38% of regularly practicing Catholics consider their bishops to be "above average in their financial accountability."
  • 70% of regularly practicing Catholics agree that the Church needs to be more accountable of its finances.
  • 61% of regularly practicing Catholics want publicly released annual independent audits at every level of Church life.
  • Only 41% of regularly practicing Catholics believe they have an "adequate understanding of how their contributions to the Church are used."
  • 81% or regular Mass attenders want open forums where parishioners can have input into their parish's financial planning and methods of fundraising.
  • 60% of regular Mass attenders find the present fundraising methods in the church to be antiquated - largely the collection basket.
  • In the light of the clergy abuse scandals: 14% decreased their giving or ceased giving at the parish level; 17% decreased their giving or ceased giving at the diocesan level.; 19% decreased their giving or ceased giving at national level; 5% increased their giving at the national level.
The FADICA is essentially an association of grant makers who are trying to learn more about the opinions of Catholics who are especially active in their parishes (as measure by attendance). In 2002 this collaboration, concerned by the prospect that the clergy sexual abuse crisis could eventually impact the capacity of the church to meet its mission, began to survey American Catholics on this and related issues. The most recent report from this survey research was released in February 2006.

(Source: Foundation and Donors Interested in Catholic Activities, Inc. in association with The Center for the Study of Church Management of Villanova University and Zogby International)

RELIGION & PHILANTHROPY in the UNITED STATES (2005)

  • Giving to religious organizations grew an estimated 4.4 percent (1.7 percent adjusted for inflation), reaching an estimated $88.30 billion in 2004.
  • Giving to religious organizations represented 35.5 percent of total estimated charitable contributions in the United States in 2004.
  • More Americans were religious in 2004 than were in the late 1980's, according to a 2004 study of the political landscape of American conducted by the Pew Research Center.
  • A study of the Barna Group found that 65 percent of adults donated to a church or house of worship in 2004 and the average donation was $895, which was substantially more than the average amount found in a similar survey conducted in each of the past several years.
  • Three Roman Catholic archdioceses filed for bankruptcy in 2004; yet overall giving to the Roman Catholic Church does not appear to have declined in the wake of claims of sexual abuse of parishioners by some priests.
  • According to a report released by the United Jewish Communities, 10 percent of Jews donate $100 or more to a Jewish Federation campaign, 21 percent donate $100 or more to other Jewish causes. The average donation to Federation campaigns was $88, to other Jewish causes the average was $225, and to non-Jewish causes the average was $347.
Source: Giving USA 2005, a publication of Giving USA Foundation, researched and written by the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University.

RELIGION AND TEEN VOLUNTEERING

  • 62% of youth attend some religious services; 49% are regular attendees; 41% do not attend at all.
  • 64% of frequent attenders volunteer; 53% of infrequent attenders volunteer; 41% of nonattenders volunteer.
  • Among frequent attenders only 47 percent volunteer with a religious congregation. The rest volunteer with an organization other than a religious congregation; 8 percent volunteer with a faith-based organization that is not a religious congregation, while the remaining youth, 45 percent, serve with a secular organization.
  • Youth who attend religious services regularly are twice as likely to be regular volunteers as nonattenders.
  • Charities that collaborate or partner with a religious organization - about 29% - make more use of volunteers than those who do not collaborate.
Download full report
(Source: Corporation for National & Community Service Study, 2005)

CROSS-GENERATIONAL SURVEY ON CHARITABLE GIVING

  • Over a 27- year cycle, charitable giving as a percentage of income has ranged from 1.2% to 0.9%.
  • The pre-war generation (people born between 1929 and 1935) becomes slightly less generous as they age, their giving declining in real dollars from $1687 to $1609. Their religious giving is fairly stagnant, declining from $1040 to $1035. Their secular giving declines more significantly, from $653 to $568.
  • The decline in giving of the pre-war generation is most pronounced among people with income exceeding $200,000. Their lifetime charitable contributions showed an overall decline of 10% to 24%.
  • Boomers (people born between 1951 and 1965 who are not in their middle years) are less generous in their giving than their pre-war parents. Their overall charitable giving is less: $1371 versus $1687. Their religious giving is less: $789 versus $1035. Their secular giving is less: $582 versus $704.
  • In comparing Catholic and Protestant giving, both Catholic and Protestant Boomers give less than their pre-war parents.
  • The degree of religious involvement, as defined by church attendance, influences the spirit of philanthropic generosity. The percentage of Boomers identifying themselves as Catholic has remained the same, but their degree of religious participation has declined. The percentage of Boomers identifying themselves as Protestant has decreased, but those Boomers who identify themselves as Protestant attend church nearly as frequently as their pre-war parents.

RELIGION AND PHILANTHROPIC GIVING OF IMMIGRANT POPULATIONS

Immigrant assimilation and charitable giving

Una Okonkwo Osili, Dan Du

Economic research about charitable giving among immigrant populations in the United States sheds light on charitable behaviors related to, but not often included in, discussions of black philanthropy. This text deals with variables related to immigrant charitable giving: giving to religious, nonreligious, and international giving of immigrants; the impact of immigrants' region of origin on the incidence of charitable giving and private transfers; and the underlying causes of the immigrant-native gaps in participation in charitable giving and private transfers.

(Source: Una Okonkwo Osili, Assistant Professor IUPUI Department of Economics, Dan Du, IUPUI Masters student)

 

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The Center is a part of the Indiana University School of Liberal Arts at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.

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