Charity: Have the Rates of US Households Contributing Money or Time Declined?

This paper uses the responses to questions about charitable contributions from the Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) between 1992 and 2022 to consider the rates of US households contributing money or time to charitable organizations. The fraction donating $500 or more remained relatively constant over this period, with about 47% answering they had donated in both 1991 and 2021. The fraction of households volunteering time declined consistently after 2005 from 34% to 26%. When the samples are restricted to those giving financially or those volunteering, the results confirm the relationship between giving time or money depends on people’s other charitable behaviors.