When the decline in charitable giving is structural, not spiritual.
By and large, charitable giving is down leaving many non-profits in a position of trying to keep up with inflation and other economic factors of declining revenue. This is a typical problem for any organization with declining revenue. How do you cut costs? How do you keep up when the cost to operate goes up each year? How can you get more donations? What if people have less ability to give?
In doing some research and work around non-profit giving and studying various religious giving data reports it is clear that giving is declining and has been for years. In a religious context, the initial place we seek to look is at the heart and locate the decline as a spiritual problem. More faith would equal more giving. Trusting your first 10% to a tithe is a measure of belief and a tangible display of it. If you are not, then you have a heart issue and probably an overspending issue. This is something I have heard often during my years and in my own theological education.
But is this what is happening today?
We know that religious affiliation has been declining for years in the US but is the only reason for the giving decline that of the heart?
As I have looked at the data around the economic situation and in what you may have picked up in other aspects of my writing, I am becoming more and more convinced that the decline in giving is structural, not entirely spiritual.
Vox reported the following when exploring if we are in a generosity crisis
“Some in the philanthropy world are calling it a “generosity crisis” — fewer than half of American households now give cash to charity. Twenty million fewer households donated in 2016 than in 2000. And the money that is being given is increasingly coming from a small number of super-wealthy people.”
Churches that have “flat” giving are reporting that the amount per-person is declining pointing to a similar shift as Vox.
It is evident that the middle-class is being squeezed and each and every year their disposable income is shrinking more and more. This means that families are making tradeoffs that did not exist in years previous. Charitable giving versus an extra vacation to Hawaii is quite different than choosing charitable giving versus buying groceries.
Some of the absence of focusing more on the structural aspects of our economy have placed many people in a position where they cannot give despite the human need for and human desire for giving.
In 1950, Paul Poirot wrote a short paperback book called The Pension Idea. While much of the language is dated, he points to the idea of what happens to the human spirit when we place people in a position to not be able to be charitable. It stands as the first fruit mentioned in the “Fruit of the Spirit.” Charity is foundational for the human experience and it is not just a matter of faith that makes it possible. We must work and operate as a society that makes this possible. Not simply for the sake of keeping institutions alive, but for the soul of people.
As always, if you come across a financially related article you’d like to send my way please do!
Best place to send them is to me.
More next time!
Jonathan