Study: Scripture-engaged Americans Are the Most Giving

A report published in early December detailed how scripture-engaged Americans are the most “giving.”

Ninety-four percent of the respondents to the American Bible Society’s ninth and final “State of the Bible USA 2024” report said they donated to charitable causes throughout the past year. The median amount given was $2,000.

“People who consistently read the Bible and live by its teachings are more likely to give to charity,” the organization’s Chief Innovation Officer and editor-in-chief John Farquhar Plake said in a statement accompanying the report. “Our data shows that they also give far more — not only to their churches, but also to religious and non-religious charities. At a national level, we could say that Scripture-engaged people form a massive engine of generosity and philanthropy.”

Just 37% of non-Christians gave to charity, according to the state. The mean amount among this group was listed as $1,466 in the report, but a substantial (“extremely large”) donation from a single individual skewed these results significantly and did not reflect the actual average when controlled. “The median donation amount among non-Christians was measured at $0, meaning that more than half did not give anything at all,” The Christian Post wrote in their analysis of the data.

“Nominal” Christians — those who identify as Christians but do not attend church at least once a month — had a charitable giving rate of 53%. “Casual” Christians had a charitable giving rate of 88% with a median donation amount of $600.

“While 73% of Catholics told pollsters they gave to charity, their mean giving amount of $1,320 was much lower than those reported by mainline Protestants ($4,066) and slightly lower than the average donation among historically black Protestants ($1,726). However, the median amount given to charity among Catholics was $300, higher than the median amounts donated by mainline Protestants ($250) and historically black Protestants ($127),” wrote The Christian Post.

The results also found those who donate to charitable purposes have significantly higher levels of happiness and life satisfaction ever, suggesting that we really do get back what we put into this life.

“Americans with the lowest household income levels give the greatest percentage to church or charity, with giving exceeding 10% of their income. Among the highest-earning households, about 60% donate something,” the report noted.

The research in the report was based on responses collected from 2,506 American adults from Jan. 4–23. The survey has a margin of error of +/-2.73 percentage points.