Contents
	Age Bracket
	U.S. Region
	Income Bracket
	Contributions Category
	Full Report (printer friendly PDF)

Contribution Categories Highlights

Table 31: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Expenditure Survey,
2005 Cash Contributions: Americans’ Charitable Giving (Aggregated)

What cash contributions categories did the Consumer Expenditure Survey measure?
The Consumer Expenditure Survey measured contributions to:

• charities and other organizations
• churches, religious organizations
• educational institutions
  

What category received the most charitable contributions in 2005?
The category of “churches, religious organizations” received 72% of all charitable contributions.

The category of “churches, religious organizations” received the highest portion of after-tax income in every bracket, whether considered by age, region, or income.

Did the Consumer Expenditure Survey measure stocks and bonds as well as cash contributions?

The Consumer Expenditures Survey included the separate category of “Gifts to non-CU [Consumer Unit] members of stocks, bonds, and mutual funds” as a separate category under “Cash Contributions.” The CE survey did not break out whether these gifts were to individuals or to charitable organizations. For purposes of the present analysis, it was assumed that expenditures in this category were directed to charitable organizations, thus producing the most generous estimate possible of “cash contributions” for charitable organizations.

Table 31: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Expenditure Survey,
2005 Cash Contributions: Americans’ Charitable Giving (Aggregated)

Details in the above table may not compute to the numbers shown due to rounding.
Source: empty tomb, inc. 2007 analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Survey, 2005