Between 1995 and 1998, the average contribution per household and percentage of total contributions increased for 9 of the 12 categories. The exceptions were human services, international/foreign organizations and recreation-adults. The most significant of these is human services, which accounted for 9% of total contributions given by households in 1998. The average contribution per household to human services decreased by $21 from $271 in 1995 to $250 in 1998. In contrast, the percentage of total respondents reporting they had given to human services increased 2 percentage points to 27%. This result reflects that a broader group of households contributed smaller amounts to human services.

The percentage of household contributions to education fell by half since 1993, from almost 12% to 6%. Additionally, there was a decline of 7 percentage points between the 1995 and 1998 surveys of the percentage of total respondents reporting they gave to education. Education organizations received 6.4% of total household contributions in 1998, a decrease of just under 3% from its 1995 level. However, the average amount given per contributing household increased from $318 in 1995 to $382.

Fewer respondents reported making contributions to religion in 1998 (falling from 48% to 45%). Additionally, both education and health charities experienced a 7 percentage point drop in respondents who made household contributions in 1998, although the average contribution, in current dollars, increased for all three areas. Out of these three areas, only religion increased its share of total contributions between 1995 and 1998 (58% to 60%) and increased the average amount given per contributing household ($868 to $1,002).