Who gives to charity?

I read an interesting piece on this subject written by Arthur C. Brooks, a professor of public administration at Syracuse University. In his research he examined charitable giving across America.

Here are some of his findings:
• American people are generous
• People who donate money tend to be happier than people who don’t
• The working poor tend to give a larger share of their earnings than people of higher income
• The non-working poor (i.e., state-subsidized income) tend be give the least to charity
• Tangible evidence suggest that charitable giving makes people prosperous, healthy, and happy
• Giving empowers people because they feel like they are part of the solution
• Conservatives are 18% more likely to donate blood than are liberals
• Those who give money are more likely to also volunteer their time to charities
• Of the top 25 states where people give an above average percent of their income, 24 of those states were red states in the 2004 election (the election prior to the publishing of this book)
• Religious people are more likely to give to charity and give about four times as much including non-religious type charities
• Conservatives tend to give more than liberals even though conservatives tend to make less money than liberals

So much has been made of Mitt Romney’s wealth these past few weeks. He most recently released financial disclosures reveal that he gives about 15% of his annual income to charity. Barrack Obama gave only one percent of his income to charity during the same reporting period.