Scripture-engaged Americans give more to charity: study
An overwhelming majority of Scripture-engaged Americans donate more money to charities than those who don't read the Bible, according to a survey.
The American Bible Society released the ninth and final installment of its State of the Bible USA 2024 report on Thursday. The latest chapter, titled “Giving,” examines charitable giving among Americans in 2023 and compiles the results based on respondents’ level of Scripture engagement among self-identified Catholics and Protestants. The research in the report is based on responses collected from 2,506 American adults from Jan. 4-23. The survey has a margin of error of +/-2.73 percentage points.
The frequency and amount of charitable giving was most pronounced among the “Scripture engaged,” defined as those who receive a score of at least 100 on the Scripture Engagement Scale that is compiled based on an individual’s responses to “14 survey items about the frequency of Bible use and the impact and centrality [of] its message” on their lives.
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Ninety-four percent of the Scripture engaged reported giving something to charity in the past year and their median amount of giving was $2,000. By contrast, among the “movable middle” defined as those who score between 70 and 99 on the Scripture Engagement Scale, just 75% donated to charity and their median donation was $288.
Less than half of the “Bible disengaged” (43%), referring to those who score less than 70 on the Scripture Engagement Scale, gave to charity and their median amount of giving was $0. This means that more than half of respondents in this category did not donate to charitable causes.
“People who consistently read the Bible and live by its teachings are more likely to give to charity,” said American Bible Society Chief Innovation Officer and State of the Bible editor-in-chief John Farquhar Plake in a statement addressing the release of the new chapter. “Our data shows that they also give far more — not only to their churches, but also to religious and non-religious charities. At a national level, we could say that Scripture-engaged people form a massive engine of generosity and philanthropy.”
Breaking down charitable giving patterns by denomination revealed that Evangelicals were the most generous when it came to giving money to charity, as 80% reported donating something in the past year. The mean donation amount among Evangelicals was $4,590, while the median amount given to charity within the denominational group was $900.
While 73% of Catholics told pollsters they gave to charity, their mean giving amount of $1,320 was much lower than those reported by mainline Protestants ($4,066) and slightly lower than the average donation among historically black Protestants ($1,726). However, the median amount given to charity among Catholics was $300, higher than the median amounts donated by mainline Protestants ($250) and historically black Protestants ($127).
A similar percentage of respondents belonging to mainline Protestant (68%) and historically black denominations (64%) gave something to charity.
The report also examined charitable giving patterns among groups of Christians categorized by the frequency they attend church and how important their faith is to them. Among “practicing Christians,” defined as those who self-identify as Christians, attend church at least once a month and describe their faith as “very important” in their lives, 93% donated to charity with a mean giving amount of $5,885 and a median giving amount of $2,000.
“Nominals,” a group of Christians who identify as Christians but do not attend church at least once a month, had a charitable giving rate of 53% with an average of $1,572 and a median of $30 donated. “Casuals,” who go to church at least once a month but do not “strongly agree” that their faith is very important in their lives, had a charitable giving rate of 88% with a mean donation amount of $2,713 and a median giving amount of $600.
Less than half (37%) of non-Christians gave to charity. The mean giving amount among this group of respondents was listed at $1,466 although the report noted that this figure does not include an “extremely large donation” from one respondent that “substantially skewed” the results. The median donation amount among non-Christians was measured at $0, meaning that more than half did not give anything at all.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
