Giving and Volunteering [United States]

Giving and Volunteering in the United States is a series of biennial national surveys that report trends in giving and charitable behavior. The surveys act as barometers of how socioeconomic conditions and tax laws affect the charitable behavior of Americans. They also chart public attitudes about a variety of issues that affect the climate for giving and volunteering, and explore behavioral and motivational factors that influence giving and volunteering. The series began in 1988, and the latest survey of the series was in 2001.

The Gallup Organization conducted in-home personal interviews with American adults aged 18 and older for Independent Sector for 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, and 1999 surveys. For the 1988 survey, 2,775 American adults were interviewed from March 8 through March 22, 1988. The 1990 Giving and Volunteering survey resulted in 2,727 interviews from March 23 to May 20, 1990. Then for the 1992 survey, 2,671 American adults were interviewed from April 3 through May 17, 1992. From April 22 to May 15, 1994, 1,509 adult Americans were interviewed for the 1994 survey. The 1996 Giving and Volunteering survey resulted in 2,719 interviews from May 4 through June 16, 1996. For the 1999 survey, 2,553 adults were interviewed from May 1999 through July 1999. The Giving and Volunteering in the United States 2001 survey was a random digit dial (RDD) telephone survey conducted by Westat for Independent Sector from May 14, 2001, to July 22, 2001, with a representative national sample of 4,216 adults 21 years of age or older. The purpose of the interviews was to provide accurate trend data about the patterns of and the motivations for giving and volunteering in the United States. Data topics include trend data on charitable behavior, total giving of respondents' households, behavioral and motivational factors that influence giving and volunteering, economic conditions and tax laws affecting giving and volunteering, and public attitudes about a variety of issues as they may relate to the climate of giving and volunteering in the United States.