Give Your Wealth Away: An Argument For a Secular Tithe
Published on - December 13th, 2009 (by J.D. Roth) This is a guest post from Sierra Black, a long-time GRS reader and the author of ChildWild, a blog where she writes about frugality, sustainable living, and getting her kids to eat kale. Previously at Get Rich Slowly, Black told us about sweating the big stuff and the pitfalls of buying in bulk.
My mother’s family is Catholic. They’re working class people from Buffalo: nurses, drugstore clerks, steel mill workers. Even though they never had a lot of dollars, they always gave 10% of what they had to the church. Like taxes, that 10% was just something they paid out before spending a dime on themselves.
As an adult I became the first college graduate in my family and adopted the position most of my educated, liberal peers seemed to hold toward charity: give a little, when you can, and feel guilty about not doing it most of the year.
For most of my 20s, I was living beyond my means. With every dollar being spent before it was earned, giving even a few dollars felt like a huge pinch in my messy budget. I was haphazard and frankly not very generous with my giving.
Overall, liberals tend to give less to charity than conservatives. Religious people like the ones I grew up with give more than my secular humanist friends. The working poor are, as a class, the most generous group in America, reliably giving away 4.5% of their income. The middle class are the least generous, giving just 2.5% on average.
In addition to making me and my friends look bad in the conservative press, statistics like that are, as George Will put it, “hostile witnesses” to the idea that “bleeding-heart liberals” actually care more about the poor and disadvantaged than our conservative counterparts.
According to the American Enterprise Institute, the single biggest predictor of a person’s charitable giving is religion. People who go to church every week give more money, more consistently.
I think it’s time to make secular tithing a middle-class trend. Those of us who don’t go to church every Sunday may not have the easy, deeply ingrained tradition of giving my great-grandmother had when she put her little envelope in the offering plate each week. That’s no excuse for not giving our share. It’s not right for the affluent and secure to let responsibility for maintaining the social safety net rest on the backs of those most likely to need it.
Last year, when I got serious about straightening out my spending habits, I wanted to make charitable giving, like saving, a key part of my financial future.
I adopted something akin to the “balanced money formula”. Instead of allocating 30% to wants, though, I drew up my formula like this: 50% for needs, 10% for charity, 20% for savings and 20% for wants.
My money is not balanced. I’m working hard to repay a pile of credit card debt and continuing to fine tune a frugal lifestyle. My needs and debts suck up most of our income. Because all the “extra” money goes into savings and debt repayment, I’m still living as if we were on the edge financially. Giving hurts. I do it anyway. Every week.
I’m not tithing yet, but I am moving towards it. Here’s how:
- As our income increases, I spend the new money in a “balanced” way. A year ago, my husband and I were living on one salary — his. As I’ve added income to our household with my freelance work, I’ve allocated 10% of those dollars toward charitable giving, 20% to savings, 20% wants and 50% to needs.
- As our debts decrease, I’m beginning to split our debt snowball. Snowballing debts is great. I’ve seen some people argue for splitting the money that’s freed up when a debt is paid off between paying down the next debt and adding to an emergency fund. I’m doing this with giving too. This month, I pay off a credit card that had a $35/month payment. I’ll put $3.50 into my charity fund, $7 into savings and the rest toward the next debt I’m attacking. I do this with frugal changes too: split the saved money between charity, savings and debt reduction.
- I make the giving automatic. Remembering to do stuff is not my strong suit. To stay consistent with my giving, I’ve signed up for recurring automatic withdrawals from my bank account. There are organizations, like Just Give, that will help you coordinate automated or one time gifts to many different organizations.
- I’m teaching my kids to give. My kids use jars to split their allowance into categories for giving, saving and spending. They’re too young to tell yet what lasting impact that might have, but I’m hoping it will get them into the habit of giving some of their money away every time they get paid. A habit it took me 30 years to grow into.
- Giving small counts big. Charities can use their membership rolls and total numbers of donors to solicit large grants from individuals and foundations, and to earn matching grants. Because of this, the difference between giving $10 to a charity and giving them nothing is a lot bigger than the difference between $10 and $20. I make a lot of small donations to different organizations I like, to spread out my impact.
There are many good organizations doing vital work in the world that depend on charitable gifts to run their operations. These range from the Red Cross to the World Food Program to local groups.
The end of the year is often a time charities need dollars most. To encourage holiday season giving, many have created fun holiday gift programs. My favorite is Heifer International’s famous gift catalog, which lets you “give” a cow or a beehive or another livestock animal to a family in the developing world. In reality, of course, what you give them is the money to run their organization, which then distributes livestock to needy families at a local level. It’s fun to read their catalog though, and Heifer has one of the lowest overhead ratios of all the large charities.
In closing, a note: Expressing concern about what a charity is going to do with your money is a terrible excuse for not giving. Very few charities are outright frauds, and even the inefficient ones will put more of your dollars toward a good cause than your bank will. If you want to be sure you’re getting the most bang for your charitable buck, though, you can investigate organizations at a charity watchdog site before giving.
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Going to the “why” of secular tithing – one thought is that you have more control and choice over how your money is spent. Instead of sending your money (as taxes) to the government, where it is distributed as the government sees fit, you get to choose where it goes and in some cases, how it is spent. Granted, the amount of your taxes and the amount of your giving will differ, but you might feel more satisfaction when you take an active role in deciding how that money is spent.
Also – the points about religion and political affiliation are sort of irrelevant. The point about giving (in my opinion) is that the giver sees a need and has a desire and a choice (and for some, a responsibility) to DO SOMETHING about it. This makes it a personal decision, and not based on what party or church you belong to. Doing something could mean giving money – or could mean giving time or talent.
Finally, to the expression “Give til it hurts” Mother Teresa said, “Give until it stops hurting.” It’s true – it’s hard to start but easy to continue. If you get started, it will get easier, you will make a difference and you will feel great.
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After I got my finances stable, I finally made a separate ING account for charity. It’s not 10%, but it’s what I feel comfortable putting aside each paycheck and is in step with my financial and personal priorities. I also give time, which is an important component of giving, particularly for people without much in the bank. However, I do NOT count my synagogue membership fees and donations in my accounting of charity. I don’t count my donations to public radio. I don’t count my political donations to causes I believe in. I don’t count the times I’ve helped out a friend or provided personal acts of compassion (bringing dinner for friends who have less, etc) If I did, perhaps the combination would hit 10%.
I’m wary of the idea that liberals don’t give as freely as conservatives if church tithing is equated to charitable giving. my temple provides essential services to its own and tons of services to the wider local Jewish community in need (part of why I chose this religious community), but they are membership fees and not direct charity. Secondly, I know a lot of liberals who support causes that might not be listed as charity (politics, arts, etc) but are values-based causes that are larger than our own immediate needs. If religion-based institutions count as charity, then we need a broader definition of giving that might capture a different approach to generosity.
I agree, however, that we should all be as thoughtful in our values-based approach to giving as we are to our values-based approach to personal finance.
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I’m a huge proponent of the idea that the giver gets the greatest benefit in a charitable transaction. I’ve written about it before in the area of relationships, and when people take the time to give it some thought, most can see how being a giver is basically a good thing.
Just ask yourself, would you rather be married to someone who is generous or selfish? Now be that person yourself.
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I love the idea of a balanced money formula that includes charity. Getting rich slowly should enhance our sense of gratitude and security and prompt us to help others as much as we can.
My husband and I are politically liberal and religiously devout (yes, those things do go together more often than you might think!). Right now most of our charitable giving goes to our church, which provides some really amazing ministries in our community. As we expand the charity portion of our budget, though, we plan to begin giving directly to charities, including both local and international organizations.
Thank you, J.D., for providing a forum for this important topic. And thank you, also, for carefully moderating the comments. I love this site and would hate to see it devolve into a name-calling forum. There are way too many other places on the web where that is happening.
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@Charlie Park – Thanks for the link! So glad to see the Missoula Food Bank on that list; I did some volunteer work with them when I was in AmeriCorps a couple years ago and they’re really a great group of people and a very well run organization.
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As an agnostic-raised-Catholic, I have to disagree with this post. The 10% tithe doesn’t go to charity; it goes to maintaining the church. Which is fine for members of the religious community, but it isn’t the same as donating to meals on wheels, for instance. Whenever there was an actual charity that needed money, there was a second collection. Those baskets were often much less full (I know, anecdotal evidence is anecdotal).
I would actually like to see a breakdown on percentage of volunteerism. I feel that is far more important than giving money.
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I hope that more comments against the post make it through moderation, because I would like to hear what people have to say. This post really resonated with me, but I can also see other viewpoints.
I am also a politically liberal religious person, and I can understand the statistics that conservatives give more than liberals. I clicked on a link that someone posted, and I noticed that this site claimed that religious people also give more to secular charities than secular people do. Personally I would like to learn more about these studies and who actually conducted them. Is there an inherent bias in the statistics or are they reliable?
Oh, and earlier when I said I was appalled by the CEO salaries of certain non-profits, I was referring to those who make over a million or in the upper six figures. I think anyone who works in non-profits should be compensated fairly. If the $28,000 salary is a full-time job, I am also appalled at that! If that is a choice the CEO made on his or her own, I admire the sacrifice for the greater cause, but I don’t consider that adequate compensation.
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Interesting visual breakdown from Mint.com on charity: http://www.mint.com/blog/trends/charity-who-cares/
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I would like to see a discussion on charitable giving as part of tax planning.
I disagree with the author’s statement regarding donating to inefficient charities or not being concerned with what a charity will do with your money.
I donate to three carefully selected charities annually because I believe in what and how they are using my money. If I determined they were using my money inefficiently or for a different cause I would stop donating to that charity.
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I think one point the article should have hit on was that charity really can come in three distinct forms. They are time, talent, and treasure.
Time – lots of charities require people to do the grunt work of passing out meals, stuffing envelopes, and making phone calls. This is something everyone can do, not just people with spare money in their budget.
Talent – do you have a talent that could benefit others? Can you sew, prepare taxes, or swing a hammer? Their are a broad range of talents that can be contributed to charities in need.
Treasure – is basically money, but can be other forms of valuables. You can donate land, vehicles, medical equipment, and other items.
Charity can take lots of forms from corporations writing multi-million dollar checks to visiting a neighborhood shut in for coffee. Just doing something is the point.
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Wow, I guess this post hit a sore spot for a lot of people!
I find it interesting that the statistics offered up in the article say that the non-religious donate less to charity. Anyone know why?
For the past 10 years I’ve been humbly learning the value of charitable giving from my husband. His family has a long tradition of it, mine does not. One of the more important things I’ve learned is that
“Charitable giving” doesn’t have to be monetary.
We’ve both regularly donated our time to things we feel strongly about – tutoring kids, helping out at a food bank etc. We’ve donated more time when we’ve had less money, but we still put the time in even when the amount of money are are donating has gone up. We’ve been trying to find good places to volunteer at with our 8 year old, but options still seem sparse for kids that age.
We don’t live in a vacuum. Whether done with a charitible group, a religious group’s charitible arm or on your own (such as picking up trash when beach walking), we all ought to be contributing to society’s greater good in some manner.
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This reminded me of something I recently saw in a Christian video series called The Truth Project. This particular video was essentially about the American political system/politics. I’d always wondered why Christianity seemed to be so closely associated with right-wing/conservative/Republican parties, and their explanation was basically that the Bible says that it is the place of the CHURCH to be caring for the poor (and widows, orphans, etc), not the state. The idea that Republicans give more than left wing/liberals/Democrats is definitely in line with this.
I have no idea if it is accurate or not, I wasn’t totally convinced by the Bible verses quoted, but it does give an interesting perspective on the link between political affiliation and religious beliefs and how that relates to one’s beliefs on where and how social services should be provided.
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“The working poor are, as a class, the most generous group in America, reliably giving away 4.5% of their income. The middle class are the least generous, giving just 2.5% on average.” There are several things that need clarification in this statement. Giving away 4.5% of, say, $20,000 is a donation of $900. Giving away 2.5% of, say, $100,000 is $2500. So you could also say that a middle-class family’s donation does more good for charity than a poor family’s contribution. But it’s also comparing apples and oranges since, as others have noted, poor people’s donations are more towards religious institutions, and a much smaller percentage of that money goes for practical non-religious aid. If you compare secular donations, I believe middle-class donations come out ahead in dollars and percentages.
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I rarely donate money to non-profits (and I’m not religious and have never tithed).
I don’t donate because I work in the non-profit sector and I consider my “donation” to be the cut in pay I agree to take to do this kind of work. If I were paid a fairer wage compared to other people with my age, experience and education I would definitely donate.
Many of my colleagues are far more generous than I am…this just works for me to keep my sanity and avoid burnout.
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I think it is important when quoting “statistics” from a partisan think-tank to make a note that the think tank in question is not non-partisan. In my professional life, we generally do not trust things from the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think-tank, because they often play fast and loose with comparisons to support their agendas.
I actually had a friend whose research was grossly misrepresented by the AEI in a way that they twisted her findings to say the exact opposite of what the actual conclusions were. (Specifically, they only counted the reported costs and did not count the reported benefits at all, when, in fact, the benefits were greater than the costs.) I use that occurence as a teaching tool in class about why to be careful with research from partisan think-tanks.
That is not to say that it isn’t true that conservatives give more than liberals… that may very well be the case. However, just because the AEI says it is so doesn’t mean it is actually true.
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Kudos to Stephanie RJ who raised a very important point about choosing the charity – lack of overhead is an incredibly weak measure of ‘success’ in a charity. Can you imagine investing solely using this metric?
May I suggest http://www.givewell.net/, a group which explores in depth what defines the “best” charities. If we spent 10% of our income on anything else, we would certainly be doing our research- charity should require the same attention.
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Great post. I starting tithing (though not through church) again at age forty as I started to get my financial act together too. I especially liked the comment about small donations being important. I didn’t realize they had value in attracting bigger money sources, but that makes sense.
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I’ve noticed an increasing push in the atheist community for giving and I think it’s great and important. I don’t give 10% (wish I could but fact of the matter my income this year probably won’t top $15k so I can’t afford it) but I give in more ways than just money. I’ve donated my art and jewelry to charity auctions, volunteered my time, etc. There are more ways to give than just with cash especially at a local level, give time, share your expertise, mentor a kid, drive the elderly and disabled to their doctor’s appointments, deliver meals on wheels, if you are able to give blood or platelets definitely do so. The options go so much further than just monetary.
As for choosing charities to donate to, just do your research. There are resources out there for figuring out which charities are run the best and do the best work with your money. Being unsure is not an excuse, you can find out.
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I consider taxes part of my charity – after all some of that money goes for helping the less fortunate and I’m fine with that. Now I live in a much higher tax state and I give less to charity. I used to live in Tennessee and had no state income tax. I gave to charity more frequently because I knew my tax money wasn’t going there, and it was apparent because there were greater numbers of less fortunate.
I do scrutinize my charities, too. I want to give to ones who operate efficiently, and I want to give to those who do work in my community. That’s my choice.
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Three years ago I read ?somewhere? in a book the idea to compare what , over your lifetime, you have saved versus what given to charity. I had 13 years of back taxes so I got my figures. Disgustingly in favor of savings versus charity!!!
I am retired so I vowed to put the same dollar figure to charity as to savings each year. This feels and is so much more balanced and I feel much better about it.
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I have thoroughly enjoyed your website, and was looking forward to reading your book. However, after today’s guest writer chose to bring politics into a blog that is supposed to be about financial tips I will not be returning to your site. The writers choice to separate conservatives and liberals into groups was not necessary despite your claim that the statistics were needed to write her post. She certainly could have made her point without the need to separate people in groups.
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My family started sponsoring a child through Child Fund International around three years ago. It’s $28 per month, which is entirely do-able, even in lean times.
It has been a very enriching experience, and I love how direct the connection is between our charity dollars and a specific child. We get occasional letters from the girl’s uncle as well as a few pictures here and there.
It’s also automatic, which helps.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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I’m a married sahm to four kids. My husband works a full time job, a part time job, and is a full time college student. We qualify for government assitance but choose not to use it because sites like GRS and others offer my family great ideas to live within our means without relying on handouts or tax payers dollars. I think it’s pitiful to see a family surviving on food stamps but still paying for cable tv or frequent visits to the bar with the cash they do earn. If I give to charity it’s the $1 donation to St. Judes or Harvesters that’s offered everytime I visit my local drug store or grocery store. Otherwise I just give my stuff away to local organizations that help the homeless or that help victims of abuse start over. I like to give away decent clothing and coats that my kids have outgrown, I will give away food stuffs that I had planned to use but are just taking up space in the pantry. I don’t think MONEY is the only way to tithe. Volunteers are crucial for many of these non-profits so that their overhead is lower and more of the money that is donated goes directly to their cause. I won’t bring up political or religious points of view but I strongly believe if you see a problem, but aren’t moved to offer a solution or a helping hand, then don’t worry about it. If you enjoy a place or service provided in the community, or abroad, then support it however you can so that it can keep doing what it’s doing. Fight for what you believe in and help those whose suffering you wish to relieve.
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As a non-religious non-political individual, I moreso agree with JD’s concept of giving within REALISTIC financial boundaries (meaning if you’re a very destitute individual highly in debt — tithing at a given percentage DESPITE your financial crisis seems unrealistic at times) as well as with your own chosen METHOD(that means giving can be done — and much more effectively so — through the sharing of time and effort rather than finances.)
I am aware that politically-conservative institutions tend to push “financial donating” moreso, but that does not detract from the fact that you do NOT need to belong to any sort of affiliation or need to be “told” to be charitable in order for this to take place. I believe giving should be a natural, innate act within itself that comes from the heart.
I like the theme of the article, but anything involving politics or religion seems bias and can be very “touchy” and unbecoming on websites that claim to have no such affiliation. I myself MUCH prefer the neutrality of JD’s and Baker’s earlier charitable articles around Thanksgiving…
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I think its also important to keep in mind that when donating, donating your time counts also.
A lot of people don’t realize this.
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The Barna Group does research around these various topics. Here’s an article from 2008 that might be of interest:
New Study Shows Trends in Tithing and Donating
http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/18-congregations/41-new-study-shows-trends-in-tithing-and-donating
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I do think that it’s important to check into the financial practices of a charity before you contribute. It’s just not responsible to give willy nilly without at least trying to find out if your money will be used to sponsor a frivolous brunch or to provide food for the hungry.
I give to my church (which supports the church, which supports people in financial need) and to Living Water, a group that makes their financials totally public. Love that.
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You definitely may want to study more on the word “tithe” before writing about it. Tithing, in the Biblical sense, has nothing to do with “giving some money to a great charity!” Good topic JD, but the writer lost many of us with her inability to differentiate between tithing and giving money to charities.
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“There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root, and it may be that he who bestows the largest amount of time and money on the needy is doing the most by his mode of life to produce that misery which he strives in vain to relieve. It is the pious slave-breeder devoting the proceeds of every tenth slave to buy a Sunday’s liberty for the rest. Some show their kindness to the poor by employing them in their kitchens. Would they not be kinder if they employed themselves there? You boast of spending a tenth part of your income in charity; maybe you should spend the nine tenths so, and done with it.”
-Thoreau, from Walden
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Let me jump in too.
Many people who give to their religious institutions, do so to advance the political agenda of those institutions.
Many religious institutions use donated money for political purposes.
Just look at recent religious institutions involvement in health care debate, the marriage wars, the abortion battle.
What does this tell us? “Conservatives give more than liberals”: This statistic means nothing.
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JD — great post idea for the holiday season, when so many people think about charitable giving.
This issue has been on my mind for a long time. I’m naturally quite shy, so volunteering is hard for me, but I do volunteer quite a bit when I can. I grew up EXTREMELY conservatively but I saw a lot of giving to the church without much of it going outside of it. Now that I am no longer religious, I try to keep the tenets that I felt were important and were lacking when I did go to church.
It’s hard. It’s terribly hard. Also, I often “help” in quiet ways — calling a friend to help refugees get a better job, tutoring outside of an association’s guidance after I know a family, or providing a reference to someone looking for work; I send money directly to a Tibetan nun in India, or send gifts to a particular orphan in Bolivia. My giving stays under the radar, and I like it that way.
Why?
1) I never want to belittle the people I give to by acting like my work is making me into a great person. I grew up poor, and I hated people like that.
2) I really, really hate solicitations. I hate that the church I attend “occasionally” sends me requests to pledge money for a $250,000 HVAC system, or that there are charity Sundays where everyone is expected to sign up for stuff. I don’t like pressure.
3) When you are under the guidance of a charity, they often try to work you to the bone. I volunteered to acclimate a refugee family and soon was spending over 20 hours a week caring for them. I had to quit working for the charity; they simply would not stop loading me with responsibilities (include federal applications the case worker was supposed to be filling out!)
4) I don’t like the extra mail. Give $10, get $10 worth of mailings. This irritates me to no end.
So the truth of the matter is, I give very, very quietly, and I try to run before they see me. I don’t know if this is more common in the “liberal” community but I do know this: my efforts aren’t making it to the statistics, and they probably never will. For me, THE POINT IS TO HELP — statistics be darned.
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Dear Sierra:
I honestly do not believe giving money I out when I am in need myself. I feel like to many people are concerned about money: getting money, giving money, spending money and so one.
But what is money? Money just represent the value of the service that you provide to others. That is why I believe giving your time and your energy is much more reliable and can be done much more consistently than giving money.
You can always give yourself no matter how poor or rich you are. You can always create value to others in thousands of other way than just by giving money.
Just my thought.
Best,
Tomas
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@ Ryan — THANK YOU. I needed that.
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Interesting post, and comments. I kept wondering if the differences in giving (this isn’t the first time I’ve read of huge differences between conservatives and liberals) have to do with people’s opinions of what is government’s role as a safety net. I’m an admitted ‘bleeding heart liberal’ who honestly does not give a lot. I don’t mind paying taxes, and would willingly increase them, to provide a basic social safety net for our citizens (I’m U.S.-based). I suspect that my political views color my view about giving outside the social safety net. I would imagine that if I felt it was NOT society’s role to provide a basic ability to live, perhaps my views on giving might be different. I’m admittedly also an atheist (raised Lutheran) so the idea of churches being in charge of the safety net frankly scares me. And honestly, take a look in your community at the number and sheer size of churches – how much of money given goes toward supporting the building? (My cousin, who regularly tithes to her church, stopped giving for a period when the church decided to spend a huge amount on new slate tile floors rather than sending the money to charities overseas). Thank you for the intelligent discussion.
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Author makes a lot of good points. But, I don’t think one should just give without thinking about or knowing how the money will be spent. Last year I gave money to one specific charity and a week later started receiving lot of “marketing calls” from other charities. I had hard time answering those calls and also I couldn’t afford to give money to all of them.
While the spirit of giving is noble and beyond any affiliation, due diligence is required to ensure proper use of the money.
-Bheem
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Why are some complaining that a building has to be opened or heat has to be turned on if they are a part of a congregation? There are often sides of Churches who do not get paid or do entirely charity type of work- in both the LDS (Mormom- no paid clergy or secretariate), Lutheran, and Catholic churches. I know this because I have seen them at work in some of the poorest schools I have worked with. I know exactly were to go to get a family fed and a bed for them in the night.
Yes, there are other parts that support their own workers &buildings- but should anyone working in a non profit not be paid? Please don’t tell that to the regional heads of United Way or Humane society. Should they not lobby for their causes? Should they not have offices and all of their staff come in because they “just want to”? It is unreasonable. Sort of like saying JD should run his site out of his pocket since it is a type of public service.
Not being greatly religious, I choose to give when I see need. Working in a school I already give in time. I know I could make much more NOT being a teacher- but my gift back to society is being in that room every day. I teach and watch. There are always families in crisis who need just a bit to get by. My ten percent- of my poor salary according to people above- goes a LONG way at school.
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I think it’s really hard not to expect political and religious-based debate when you use religion and political views as the determining factors.
Most of the comments are interesting btw.
I was raised as a Christian but have become more liberal in my adult years. One thing I notice about one of the factors that influences the habit of giving is guilt. To be honest, sometimes I still tend to harbour guilty feeling when I don’t give or not give as much as I should. Churches have been drumming this message for a very long time therefore it is not surprising that the churchgoers seem to give more even though most of the money will go to the church.
As I found out, giving out of guilt didn’t make me feel good and failed to give me the much needed “relief”. So I changed my perspective from how much I should give to why I give. So far it’s going well.
In my view, it is more important to look at to which causes that people give or why they choose to support certain cause rather than how much they are giving.
JD, I think you will stimulate a more intelligent (and less emotional) debate if you change the question parameter to the reasons why people give to a certain cause or why they give at all and alter the respondents’ profiling parameters to education level, jobs, or even the pets they keep (which sounds ridiculous but would generate an interesting hypothesis
) rather than employing religious and political views as the basis of the argument.
Those information will give a deeper and more complex psychological assessment of the givers rather than simply saying seculars are hypocritical (or will go to hell) for not giving more.
Just a thought.
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Having some regular financial gifts built into the budget keeps me engaged in giving even when the kids are sick or I’m working extra hours and can’t volunteer my time.
Many commenters have made excellent points about how little of the money donated to churches makes it back out into the community. My point in mentioning religious giving was simply to acknowledge that many people with fewer resources than I have make space in their budgets for regular giving.
Whether or not I agree with where they give their money or how that money is used, I can draw inspiration from that and make a habit of routinely donating to the causes and organizations I do want to support.
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I have always given some money to my favorite charities over the years. This year, I decided to formalize my giving and I break out a percentage of each invoice to charitable giving. At the end of the year, I will take that amount and divide it up amongst the charities. I found that even just 1% of gross adds up to much more than I was previously giving. When I create my spreadsheet for 2010, I will bump up to 2%. Each year, the bump will be “minimal” and fairly painless. In several years, I will be up to 4 or 5% and be happy at that point.
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Uh, where’s the “argument for a secular tithe”? The only thing I see is this sentence: “It’s not right for the affluent and secure to let responsibility for maintaining the social safety net rest on the backs of those most likely to need it.” And personally, that’s not a very convincing argument.
Ms. Black gives some HOWS, but she doesn’t say WHY someone should give to charities. I’m sorry, but I’m refer disappointed.
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I like the overall tone of this post, even though I could have done without the liberal/conservative references. The idea of a “secular tithe” is a good idea, because there are plenty of organizations that could use our resources every bit as much as religious organizations.
I also have one disagreement with the statement that many church dollars are not brought back into the community. What if a church spends a portion of its budget on educating its members? Can that education not be considered as part of giving back to the world as its members apply that knowledge to others? There are plenty of other charitable organizations, such as Junior Achievement, that focus on education instead of direct assistance.
As long as any sort of tithe is for a cause one believes in and will be used in an efficient manner, the benefactor is not as important as the attitude within the giver’s heart.
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Donating your time can also be really rewarding. My wife and I do a lot of work with the local branch of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society all year long. That can also be a great way to give back if things are tight monetarily.
Religious people have the opportunity every week to donate because it’s going on “where they live” and it is made very easy… well if you, say, start a Walk MS team or start gathering canned goods for a local food bank and involve your friends, family, and co-workers (check with the powers that be, obviously..), now your efforts are where they live. It can make donating or fund raising much simpler.
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“Expressing concern about what a charity is going to do with your money is a terrible excuse for not giving.”
Many here have argued that the above quote from the article is “ignorant” or an out and out lie. I disagree. I do not think she is advocating that you should not look into where the money is going or what it will be used for. Absolutly you should give to something you believe in. The point is that you should give. I believe many people just give up on the notion of giving simply because they’ve heard or seen a few organizations that squander the donations that are entrusted to them.
To the point of donating to churches: Before charities started popping up, the church was generally the charitable organization of a community. Now in a similar movement on a personal level away from giving, churches sometimes ask themselves “Why give or setup shelters or food kitchens when there is one 2 miles from our door?” I am not saying this is a good or correct attitude but it reflects the attitude of many of us in respect to giving (“us” being the US or the world as a whole, not necessarily those who regularly read GRS).
The Church has an amazing ability to reach people where they are at both hear and around the world. Don’t write off churches as charitable orgainizations just because you don’t agree with their religious beliefs. Just like other charities you can research churches and choose to give to one that you supports a common goal. Also, you can earmark your giving to certain areas (or you could at the churches I’ve been to). So if you wanted your donation to go to a specific cause, for example, the food bank that the church runs, you would just make note of that on your donation and they will allocate that money toward that part of their budget. (Of course you could argue that you may never know if the money actually goes where you wanted it to or not but in theory you could argue that about other arganizations as well.)
The point is to give. The point is that we have the ability to help others and that we should do it. If you’re uncomfortable giving money, give time and energy. There is more to life than just getting ahead for the sake of being ahead.
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Thanks for moderating JD! The civility of GRS is one of many reasons I love it.
Great post. Some commenters have quibbled with the 10% idea (which I think has its origins in Christianity). To me, the % is not as important as setting a GOAL, the same way we do with emergency savings, retirement, etc. I can only manage about 2% of net right now, but my goal is to increase it every year.
Last January, when doing my annual budget, I asked about 10 of my upper-middle-class friends, and NONE had an annual giving budget, giving plan, or giving goal. Trust me, these folks definitely plan other parts of their financial life!
Make giving as important as other money issues. Plan, think it through, set a budget, choose your gifts and charities carefully. Make it a priority. It will make you feel great, and as others have said, it will come back to you some way somehow.
Happy Holidays all!
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“Easy, deeply ingrained tradition…”???!!! You make it sound as though this is no big deal, non-sacrificial to those of us who give and/or tithe to religious organizations such as our church. For most believers, tithing/giving is an act of worship. We do it out of obedience and work hard to overcome our selfish flesh to do so cheerfully. And we don’t do it as a competition against non believers, democrats or for any other self promotional reasons. All the while, we are spending less on other things. None of this is easy – to your grandma or anyone else. But she obviously was an obedient saint to leave you with the impression that it was no big deal. God bless her.
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As Catholic Christians, my husband and I have always tithed 10% of our income, 1/3 to our church and 2/3 to organizations like gleaners ( local) and catholic relief services or food for the poor ( international). Many christians that we know do this type of giving, rather than just 10% to their church, because feeding the poor, clothing the naked etc is a huge part of the way we express our faith.
Also, when Catholics give to their church, a portion of what they give goes to support Catholic Hospitals ( arguably the largest provider of health care to the poor and the indigent world wide) as well as food banks, soup kitchens, homeless shelters etc. I think it’s a mistake to believe that funds that enter a church do not go out into the community.
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I think it should be noted that many people who are the consumers of charity money need a lot more than just money. When you are making your donation, it may be worthwhile to think about ways in which you can more effectively help those you are intending to aid with the donation. There are many great charities around the world, but I think most people would find getting their hands dirty to help others is more rewarding than just writing checks.
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I enjoy some nice, controversial banter as much as anyone, but I’m sure the heaping dose of liberal white guilt in this article will alienate many of your readers.
I found the numbers in this post a little manipulative. As they say, there are lies, damn lies, and statistics. For example:
“The working poor [...] reliably give away 4.5% of their income. The middle class [...] give just 2.5% on average.”
OK, but 2.5% of $100,000 is a lot more than 4.5% of $12,000. So who’s really giving away more money? I know, you’re using percentages because you want us to assume that all of life’s costs are proportionate to our incomes. But, of course, they’re not. It costs $600 to feed a family of four, regardless of whether your income is $100,000 or $12,000. If your income is only $12,000, and you’re giving away as much as you spend on groceries, then you’re giving 5%. But if you’re more successful and make $100,000, then giving away an amount equal to your grocery budget (which is still $600 because although you’re well-off, you’re still frugal) only amounts to 0.6% of your income. But it’s still $600. It still buys the same amount of Methadone or bed sheets at the Mission.
Nevermind the fact that someone who only earns $12,000 has their entire paycheck to divvy up however they want. Someone earning $100,000 has 40% skimmed off for taxes (federal, state, and property) before they even get to touch it. I would argue that someone who has worked hard and made something of themselves, but doesn’t give anything to charity, is contributing a lot more to society’s social safety net (via taxes) than some leftist, low-income grad student who gave $200 at a Greenpeace rally to assuage their own feelings of conflicted guilt over having been born in a wealthy nation. Please don’t project your own feelings of guilt on me. Life isn’t fair. I know I was dealt a lucky hand, and I’m grateful for that. But I don’t feel guilty about it. If anything, I feel obligated to enjoy my life to the fullest, rather than waste it trying to give my money away until I’m as miserable as those who’ve made worse choices than me.
I don’t feel compelled to help encourage the women of some poverty-ridden village in Africa to continue having more and more children. It’s one thing if people insist on living in barren, infertile land, but I can’t support bringing children into their horrible existence too. I feel bad for the children, but at some point, we have to stop the cycle. Some places just weren’t meant to host human life. Let natural selection work. Let capitalism and free markets work. Stop trying to level the playing field with “feel-good” token donations that encourage socialist behaviour and end up dragging us all down to a lowest common denominator.
If you want to give, then create a special savings account and put a couple hundred dollars in it every month or so. Then, when someone you know and care about needs help, use the money to help them. Maybe a relative develops cancer and needs someone to watch their children while they’re doing chemo treatments. Maybe a lower-income friend’s car breaks down and she doesn’t have the money to fix it. Maybe your nephew is raising money for new basketballs for his school. Give locally, to people whom you know are good, honest people. But don’t cripple your own finances to do it out of some misplaced feelings of guilt just because you’ve worked hard, sacrificed, and earned financial security while others around your borrowed up to their eyeballs.
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Man, quite a storm in the comments section, but not a lot of discussion about the actual practice, or experiences with it.
I do a secular tithe. I realized a while ago that my spending wasn’t aligned with my values – I was frugal, since I don’t value things that much, but I wasn’t spending on the things I do value – particularly causes. So I imposed an admittedly arbitrary 10% giving rate. I’ve been doing it for almost a year.
This is supposed to be a baseline – I’m young, and about to go to school again. I expect to have much more money once I graduate. But the idea is to keep lifestyle inflation under control – each time my salary increases I’ll bump up both the percentage I save and the percentage I give, and living a little larger on the rest.
Like a lot of other people, I like to give money where I think it will be most effective, so I do some research through charity watchdogs and I spend some time thinking about what values I want to advance with my giving. As Sierra points out, though, it’s easy to let this become an excuse not to give – it certainly was for me in the past. I plan to get over this this year by contributing a big chunk of money to a charity or two that I’m really familiar with, even if it’s outsized compared to the rest of my giving.
I come from politics, and as a good liberal I think charity should be backed up with sound public policy – and generally think policies are more effective. So I earmark half of my giving toward non-tax-deductible causes, to lobby on behalf of better policy or elect good politicians. But I also think charity-charity is important to address short-term needs, so half goes to tax-deductible charities that don’t lobby. Finally, I put value on communities, so I’m aiming to get half my charitable giving to local organizations.
I’ve found this system really rewarding – it’s nice to have a bunch of money committed and then think about how to divvy it up. It’s a really excellent feeling to know that my frugality is paying dividends to my values in the way I want it to – not with another schlocky consumer product but with help to other people. And it’s really satisfying as a 25-year old to be able to make substantial contributions – sums I never expected from young people when I was fundraising for a living.
I don’t mean to be self-righteous or make anyone feel bad – I’m just reporting that this system turns giving from something I feel bad about not doing enough into a bright point in my life. I highly recommend it.
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My husband and I have a list of charities that we give to once a year — we save up a large chunk of change and do all of our donating at Christmas time. The charities on our list are ones that we have either worked with in the past (like the Houston SPCA, the Texas Nature Project, and Casa Juan Diego), or ones that are run by people we know (Kingdom House in St. Louis).
We also donate to our universities. I attended a private school on scholarship, and my husband went to a public university on scholarship — we firmly believe in giving money back to our schools so that people who otherwise could not afford to get an education, can.
On another note, I don’t think a person’s political leanings have much to do with whether they donate or not. My husband is a socially liberal Democrat; I’m a moderate Republican (yes, we do exist). We both agree — and have since we met — that giving of our time and money to causes we think need our support is a fundamental part of who we are as individuals and as a couple. We only wish we could give more.
Finally, I love GRS because this blog covers topics I’m interested in without the liberal vs. conservative BS that runs rampant in our society these days…and I can’t tell you how much it hurts to see people spewing political stereotypes in the comments section. Hating on other people’s political leanings is not what this country needs.
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