Freelanthropy Survey Finds 91 Percent of Americans
Are Philanthropic at Heart

Baby Boomers Lead Charge with Highest Percentile of Charitable Giving/
96 Percent of Age Group 65+ Have Donated to a Charity

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Sept. 6, 2006 — Freelanthropy, Inc., (www.freelanthropy.com) a free online charitable search program, today announced the results of its second annual Charitable Giving survey revealing detailed statistics about how much Americans contribute to charities and the types of organizations to which they give.  

“Some of the survey’s findings were surprising and changed dramatically from the results reported last year,” said Dan Sheehy, founder and president of Freelanthropy.com. “This updated information allows us to expose patterns of giving to help non-profit organizations get the most out of their fundraising efforts.”

The Freelanthropy Charitable Giving Index, conducted in conjunction with market research firm, Synovate of Chicago, breaks down how Americans give to charities based on age, sex, income, employment, marital status and region, as well as the types of charities to which they contribute.

“Freelanthropy conducts the survey as part of its mission to create turnkey branding, communication and fundraising tools for non-profits of all kinds, and allowing them to access an untapped fundraising resource, Web search,” said Sheehy.  “Research supports that people are more interested now than ever in giving to charities through the Internet; and Freelanthropy.com’s services provide people with an easy and accessible way to give to their charity of choice.”

The 2006 Freelanthropy Index found that Americans continue overwhelmingly to donate to a variety of charitable causes—more than 91 percent of Americans participate at some level of charitable giving.

Other key findings from the study include:

• Older Americans has the highest percentage of givers; of individuals age 65+, 96 percent contributed to a charity.

• Health and human services ranked as the first or second charitable giving choice for nearly two-thirds of all respondents (63 percent).

• A surprising 74 percent of all respondents ranked arts and culture as their last or second to last charity choice.

• Lower-income Americans are among the nation's most generous givers, with 48 percent of households earning less than $25,000 per year giving at least $100 per year.

• Married couples are more likely than the general population to give, and more likely to give at levels of $100 or more.

• Attending at least some college makes you more than twice as likely to have given more in 2006 vs. 2005.

• A higher percentage of part-time employees gave more than in any other employment group.

• Sixty percent of those in the self-employed category rated education as their first or second choice among causes to donate.
• Those based in the Northeastern U.S. were less likely to give more in 2006 vs. 2005. 

For the full Freelanthropy Charitable Giving Index report log on to www.freelanthropy.com and register to receive the company’s newsletter. The full report is also available free to Freelanthropy’s partners.

"Freelathropy.com recognizes that the majority of non-profit organizations have limited resources,” said Sheehy.  “We’re offering our partners complimentary access to the survey results, in the same giving spirit Freelanthropy.com provides its simple and free fundraising and communication services – in the interest of helping non-profits increase revenues while reducing time and money spent on non-mission activities."

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About Freelanthropy
Freelanthropy, LLC, (www.freelanthropy.com) is an online services provider of innovative branding, communications and fundraising solutions for a wide variety of non-profit organizations. For more information please contact Freelanthropy at 626-771-3556.

Freelanthropy, LLC
626 771-3556
press @ freelanthropy .com

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