Pews, Prayers, and Participation: Religion and Civic Responsibility in America

4 Religion, Volunteering, and Philanthropic Giving

Religion, Volunteering, and Philanthropic Giving Civic responsibility is not limited to associational involvement. Two other kinds of civic behavior have attracted a considerable amount of scholarly attention: the act of volunteering and the act of charitable giving. Cultural expectations related to volunteering and giving charitable donations are deeply embedded in the American civic tradition (Putnam 2000; Verba, Schlozman, and Brady 1995), and both volunteering and giving are widely prevalent in American life. While exact estimates vary, due partly to the nature and timing of survey questions, somewhere between 45 and 55 percent of Americans usually report that they volunteer at some point over the course of a year (e.g., Greeley 1997; Independent Sector 1999, 2001), while even larger numbers (89 percent of American households) report donating portions of their income to charitable causes (Independent Sector 2001). This chapter addresses the role of religion in fostering volunteering and philanthropic giving. It is true that volunteering and giving tend to go together (Putnam 2000, 118; Hodgkinson, Weitzman, and Kirsch 1990, 102–14). Despite this relationship, the specific role that religion plays with regard to each behavior may differ for a number of reasons. First, volunteering is largely a public activity, and giving is more private. Moreover, volunteers frequently have a direct personal stake in the public good toward which their volunteering is directed, while donors are less likely to have a personal stake in the particular cause to which they are contributing .1 Finally, volunteering is related more to one’s patterns of social inter98 4  action and the extent of one’s social networks, while giving is associated more with one’s level of personal resources. Thus it is worthwhile to examine the role of religion in fostering volunteering separately from its role in generating charitable giving. Religion and Volunteering Volunteering can be viewed as any activity that is freely given to benefit another person, group, or organization (Wilson 2000, 215).2 Some contend that it is solely the desire to help others that forms the basis for volunteering, while others hold that volunteering means acting to produce a public good without reference to particular motive(s) (Wilson 2000, 216). For purposes of the analyses presented here, volunteering constitutes any action to aid others that is freely given, regardless of its particular motivation(s).3 Previous research has shown that members of religious congregations volunteer their time more frequently (and volunteer more hours) than those who are not members of religious congregations (e.g., Hodgkinson, Weitzman, and Kirsch 1990, 102). Most studies of religion and volunteering , however, look beyond membership in religious congregations to attendance at religious worship services and the relationship between attendance and volunteering. Here too there is near-unanimous agreement: More frequent patterns of attendance at religious services are related to higher levels of volunteering (e.g., Hodgkinson et al. 1996; Brooks 2003; Campbell and Yonish 2003). For example, Brooks (2003, 43) reports that regular church attendees “volunteer an average of 12 times per year, while secular people volunteer an average of 5.8 times,” a difference that persists even after controlling for a number of demographic characteristics. Many other studies have produced similar findings (e.g., Wuthnow 1999a, 351; Wuthnow 2004, 103; Campbell and Yonish 2003; Park and Smith 2000). These relationships are clearly evident in the top portion of table 4.1, which examines the relationship between volunteering and church membership and church attendance across twelve national surveys conducted between 1996 and 2004.4 Because the specific wording of questions about Religion, Volunteering, and Philanthropic Giving  99 Table 4.1 Volunteering by Church Membership and Church Attendance (percent reporting that they have volunteered) Church Church Membership Attendance Study Nonmember Member etaa Rarely Occasionally Regularly Weekly etaa NES, 1996 31 50 .17 29 35 44 59 .21 God & Society, 1996 x x x 28 37 50 61 .26 Giving & Volunteering, 1996 38 53 .14 32 41 48 64 .26 CIS, 1997 39 60 .21 29 46 54 73 .32 GSS, 1998 x x x 39 50 66 82 .34 Arts & Religion, 1999 36 61 .24 29 39 53 73 .33 Religion & Politics, 2000 47 77 .31 41 49 68 81 .33 Saguaro, 2000 37 61 .24 29 44 54 64 .24 Religion & Public Life, 2001 x x x 45 55 73 84 .35 GSS, 2002 30 54 .23 25 42 55 63 .28 NES, 2004 x x x 28 41 47 56 .22 GSS...