The Donation Paradox?

You would think that people with less income are less inclined to give away their money, but according to a recent article on Yahoo Finance that is not the case:

The 2000 Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey shows that households with incomes below $20,000 gave a higher percentage of their earnings to charity than did any other income group: 4.6 percent, on average. As income increased, the percentage given away declined: Households earning between $50,000 and $100,000 donated 2.5 percent or less. Only at high income levels did the percentage begin to rise again: For households with incomes over $100,000, the number was 3.1 percent.

What is more interesting is that those who say they cannot afford donations are those who are mostly upper middle income. I wonder why this is the case. Are we in the upper middle class just more in love with our money? In the article they mention that religion is a big influence on the poor and it did remind me of the story in Mark where Jesus observed the donations of people in the temple.

“And He sat down opposite the treasury, and began observing how the multitude were putting money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large sums. And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amount to a cent. And calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, ‘Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury; for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on.’” (Mark 12:41-44)

I really love that story because it shows that the amount of money donated doesn’t matter, but it’s the heart that matters. If you feel that you can give, it wouldn’t hurt you to give. Some may say that it is foolishness for the lower income families to try to help others when they don’t have enough for themselves, but I think that a lower income doesn’t mean that these people have less sense in money management. Actually when you are poor you are forced to be frugal, and I have lived through that. You learn to get the most out of every dollar when you are smack in the middle of that environment. Just because someone has a lower income it doesn’t mean they have less of a surplus than those who make a lot more than them.

Another thing they teach in Christian churches is that God will provide and all money belongs to God, so giving away money isn’t a painful thing. I definitely believe that God has provided for my family so much more than I can ever give away. After all, money can’t be taken with me when I die anyway. I am really not surprised that the poor give away more money than the rich if most of them are taught the tenets of the Bible. I think generally the more money you have the more you become attached to it, and you manage and nurture it so much that you are afraid you would lose it. However, if you are poor, you are not afraid of losing your nonexistent fortunes. Additionally, when you are too blessed with wealth God gets kicked to the curbside so His teachings become less important. Money makes you feel powerful in a very human and worldly way and it is not always good.

Donating was hard for me at first because I come from a family that doesn’t donate very much. Since going to my current church I started to donate a little bit of money at first, and then a bit more, and then I sought out places to donate money to. I found that once you are willing to donate you can do it without feeling squeamish about handing out money. My parents say that my husband and I donate way too much money but really I don’t miss the money we give away at all. Since I don’t miss it I know it would benefit others more than it would benefit me.

Anyway, those are my random thoughts of the day. Have a great weekend!

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