Who Really Gives? Partisanship and Charitable Giving in the United States

http://themonkeycage.org/blog/2012/10/18/who-really-gives-partisanship-and-charitable-giving-in-the-united-states/

by Andrew Gelman on October 18, 2012 · 2 comments
Michele Margolis and Michael Sances write:

Conservatives and liberals are equally generous in their donation habits. This pattern holds at both the individual and state level, and contradicts the conventional wisdom that partisans differ in their generosity.

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Where do liberals and conservatives give their money?

While levels of giving are roughly equivalent, liberals are much more likely to do- nate to secular organizations, and conservatives are more likely to donate to religious causes, especially their own congregation.

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“While levels of giving are roughly equivalent, liberals are much more likely to donate to secular organizations, and conservatives are more likely to donate to religious causes, especially their own congregation.”

Much of donating to one’s own congregation or even a denomination hierarchy is “charitable” only in a legal sense. Care and feeding of a pastor and facility from which one derives a personal “benefit” is hardly charitable. The YMCA is a tax exempt institution but my membership fee is not deductible because I derive a personal benefit from membership. The primary difference between that and a church is the special status regarded religious institutions.