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GIVING BY THE BILLION
THAT'S BILLION WITH A B
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Regional
generosity substantially exceeds national averages in critical categories.
By Pam Droog
In 2002 St. Louis regional donors gave an estimated $2.53 billion
to charity. That’s BILLION, with a B. Best of all, $1.78 billion
of that went to local charities. And there’s more good news about
regional giving, as reported in the recently released Private
Dollars for Public Good: A Report on Giving in the Region, published
by the Gateway To Giving coalition.
In 2002, regional businesses gave an estimated $606 million to charities,
or about 18 percent of total giving in the region, beating the national
average for business giving by nearly three times.
On a per-employee basis, donations from the largest corporations
in the region exceeded the national average nearly seven times.
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83.5
percent of households in the region gave to charity vs. 70
percent of households nationwide, and the average gift was
$2,336, 15 percent higher than the national average
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Donations
from living individuals make up the largest percent of the
total contributions made in St. Louis (74 percent or $1.32
billion; this also is true nationally).
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The
majority of donations were made to educational institutions,
religious organizations and combined campaigns such as the
United Way of Greater St. Louis, Jewish Federation of St.
Louis and the Arts & Education Council of Greater St. Louis. |
“What this study really says is unbeknownst to ourselves we have
been taking a leadership role in giving,” says David Luckes, president
and CEO of the Greater Saint Louis Community Foundation.
Historic Opportunities
The story behind these numbers is as interesting as the statistics
themselves.
Luckes explains in the mid-1990s a group of national foundations
like Pew and Kellogg launched a study on philanthropy. The results
projected between $41 and $132 trillion (with a T) would pass between
generations from 2000 through 2050, “primarily due to Baby Boomers
and their parents passing a huge amount of wealth to a smaller generation,”
Luckes says. “Applying the data to philanthropic organizations,
the foundations realized this is somewhat of a historic moment,
but they also asked, is America prepared to capture this money for
philanthropy, for the long-term benefit of communities, or will
it go to taxes or inheritances?”
To find out, the foundations established the New Ventures in Philanthropy
fund in 2001 to make grants to local communities to help them get
ready for this historic wealth transfer. The St. Louis Metropolitan
Association for Philanthropy received a three-year, $290,000 grant
to address the issue, and convened the Gateway To Giving coalition
of 16 business, nonprofit and foundation leaders to promote and
expand regional giving.
One of GTG’s first acts was to commission the Private Dollars
for Public Good study, paid for by a $75,000 grant from the
Greater Saint Louis Community Foundation.
“David Luckes saw early on the importance of having a comprehensive
benchmark study that quantifies giving in the community,” says Betul
Ozmat, GTG director. “If our longterm goal is to increase philanthropy,
we need to know where we’re starting from.”
The study was done by the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University.
“That is the national scholarly center for the study of giving,”
Ozmat says.
IU researchers analyzed individual, business and foundation giving
in St. Louis and compared these findings with the rest of the nation.
Data was gathered through interviews with 500 households, survey
results from the largest publicly and privately held companies as
well as a random sample of family-owned businesses and from 38 of
the community’s largest foundations. Ozmat adds, besides St. Louis,
the only other region that has worked with Indiana University to
measure giving is Memphis.
Generous Business
“What surprised us most about the results was the level of business
giving to charity in this community,” Ozmat says. “Nationally, business
giving is about five percent of the total, but here it’s almost
20 percent. That’s really stunning!”
Part of the reason for such generosity, she believes, is that the
St. Louis region has the seventh-largest revenue producing United
Way in the nation. “But that doesn’t explain it all,” she adds.
“Businesses I think have a strong understanding of investment in
the social fabric of the community. Ultimately contributing to the
community is good for business, creating a vibrant quality of life
that attracts and retains people.”
Ozmat notes the Indiana study also looked at giving by income and
age. Those earning $50,000 to $100,000 give 26 percent more than
their national peers. Also, among people under age 65, average household
giving ranges from 12 to 39 percent higher than national peer averages.
In some categories, however, St. Louisans rank below national averages.
For example, St. Louisans age 65 years or older give an average
of 17 percent less than their national peers. And among St. Louisans
who attended or graduated from college, average giving is 10 to
12 percent lower.
The coalition expects to start analyzing these and other study results
during first quarter 2004 to produce strategies for increased regional
giving.
“Having this first snapshot with real data of how philanthropy happens
in St. Louis is critical to our being able to answer two important
questions,” Luckes says. “First, with unprecedented wealth available
for giving, do those who control the money understand the options
they have available to them to use those dollars to make a difference
in the community? And second, are the charities positioned to deal
with this wealth transfer and be savvy advocates for giving?”
Once these questions are answered and agendas for giving are determined,
Luckes says, “there is no doubt St. Louis can capture a national
reputation as the most generous city in America.”
Pam Droog is a frequent contributor to St. Louis Commerce Magazine.
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