Faith and Philanthropy: The Connection Between Charitable Behavior and Giving to Religion

A Briefing on New Research and Discussion of Implications
June 27, 2002, New York City

On June 27, INDEPENDENT SECTOR and the National Council of Churches are joining forces to release new research from INDEPENDENT SECTOR’s Giving and Volunteering in the United States national survey series that clearly demonstrates the compelling connection between giving to religion and generosity to other causes. People who give to religion give more to both religious and secular causes than do donors to secular causes alone.

You are invited to join us at a briefing in New York City when our researchers will unveil the study and a distinguished group of leaders will investigate the implications for faith and philanthropy. At a time when the civic role of religion and faith-based organizations is under debate, these findings raise important questions, such as:

• How can secular organizations reach out to the faith community to expand the generosity of these highly engaged donors to support other important causes?
  
  
• How can the philanthropic field support churches, mosques, and synagogues in their work to create and sustain this tradition of generosity?
  
  
• How can this private initiative, paired with public support, make advances to solving our world’s most challenging problems?

The resulting report, Faith and Philanthropy: The Connection Between Charitable Behavior and Giving to Religion, is the first publication in the new Giving and Volunteering Signature Series. The series is made possible by generous support from the MetLife Foundation. Carnegie Corporation of New York is our host for this important briefing on the sector.

When: Thursday, June 27, 2002—9:00 a.m.: Continental Breakfast; 9:30–11:30 a.m.: Briefing

Where: Carnegie Corporation of New York (26th floor board room), 437 Madison Avenue (49th and 50th Streets), New York City

Who: Joining INDEPENDENT SECTOR and the National Council of Churches to discuss the implications of these new findings will be:

• The Honorable Harris Wofford, former senator; past president of the Corporation for National and Community Service; chair, America’s Promise
• Reverend W. Wilson Goode, Sr., director, Amachi Mentoring Program, Public/Private Ventures; former Mayor of Philadelphia
• Brent Blackwelder, president, Friends of the Earth
• Sara E. Meléndez, president and CEO, INDEPENDENT SECTOR, co-host
• Robert W. Edgar, general decretary, National Council of Churches, co-host
• Eileen Lindner, Ph.D., editor of the Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches, National Council of Churches
• Chris Toppe, Ph.D., senior research analyst, INDEPENDENT SECTOR
  
  

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