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October 25, 2012 at 07:35 AM
Four out of five philanthropically minded Americans will donate the same or more this year, and nonpolitical charities will benefit even in an environment of unprecedented political fundraising requests, according to the Fidelity Charitable Giving Season Survey.
For the second consecutive year, giving is trending higher, according to the survey, up by nine percentage points over 2011, which saw an 18-point increase over 2010.
The results showed that on average, Americans expected to give $2,400 to charity this year, compared with $2,100 last year.
Fidelity Charitable sponsored the study of 571 Americans in October to explore behaviors and motivations around charitable giving. Forty-two percent of survey respondents cited improved personal economic reasons for giving more, including a new job, a raise or lower household expenses.
For those who donated or planned to donate to a political campaign, 89% said this had not negatively affected their charitable giving.
Most respondents also said that charitable tax breaks had not influenced their giving. Three-quarters disagreed when asked whether they had donated to charity to get a tax deduction.
Indeed, the survey found that a strong family connection influenced which causes to support and encouraged a family tradition of philanthropy. Forty-four percent of respondents strongly agreed that they donated to charity to set a good example for their family or community.
