Kate E. Huntley

Willford Isbell King

English

Research Papers in Economics

This PDF is a selection from an out-of-print volume from the National
Bureau of Economic Research
Volume Title: Trends in Philanthropy: A Study in a Typical American
City
Volume Author/Editor: Willford Isbell King, assisted by Kate E. Huntley
Volume Publisher: NBER
Volume ISBN: 0-87014-011-6
Volume URL: http://www.nber.org/books/king28-1
Publication Date: 1928
Chapter Title: Summary
Chapter Author: Willford Isbell King, Kate E. Huntley
Chapter URL: http://www.nber.org/chapters/c4280
Chapter pages in book: (p. 58 - 60)74 TRENDS IN PHILANTHROPY
SUMMARY
At the beginning of this report it is stated that there were, in the
minds of people interested in philanthropic work, eight questions
which they desired to have answered. These questions were listed
as follows:
1.Are more dollars contributed for philanthropic purposes now
than formerly, or is it merely true that a few large organiza-
tions have taken the place of many small organizations?
2. When the sums contributed are reduced to terms of constant
purchasing power, do they represent real value larger than
before the War?
3. Have per capita contributions, if measured in dollars of con-
stant purchasing power, increased during the last quarter
century?
4. Are people today contributing to philanthropic organizations
a larger proportion of their total wealth than they did in pre-
War times?
5.Areearnings and interest on investments becoming a more or
a less important factor in the revenues of philanthropic or-
ganizations?
6. Do the large or small contributors furnish the bulk of the
funds?
7. What changes haye occurred in the objects of philanthropy as
indicated by the distribution of the expenditures made by
philanthropic organizations?
8.Are there cycles in philanthropy or does it follow a smooth
trend?
We are now in a position to give fairly definite answers to these
questions for the city of New Haven. One is tempted to say that,
inasmuch as New Haven appears to be a rather typical American
city, the answers for New Haven probably apply to many other
cities in the United States.The fact is, however, that, while this
may be true, we have not the evidence to substantiate this view,
and hence it must at present be regarded merely as an interesting
hypothesis.TRENDS IN PHILANTHROPY 75
The answers to the questions as applied to the city of New Haven
are as follows:
1. The number of dollars contributed to philanthropic organiza-
tions in New Haven has grown very greatly from 1900 to 1925,
the amount at the close of the period being abouttimes' as
great as in the former. In this city, at any rate, it is not true
that all that has occurred has been a substitution of a few
large organizations for many small organizations.
2. When contributions are reduced to terms of constant pur-
chasing power, a decided growth in the total still appears.
3. When the contributions so deflated are converted to a per
capita basis, we find that the amount contributed per person
in New Haven has averaged about the same during the last
five years as in the first five years of the twentieth century.
4.People today are contributing to philanthropic organizations
about the same proportion of their total wealth that they did
in pre-War times. Except for cyclical variations, the changes
in the fraction of wealth given have not been marked since
1900, though it is true that the war year of 1918 did extract
from the pockets of the people a fraction of their wealth
somewhat abnormally large.
5.Earningsand investments constitute a growing percentage of
the total receipts of all philanthropic organizations in New
Haven. In 1900 approximately one-fifth of the total receipts
came from these sources, while in 1925 the fraction had risen
to two-fifths. Most of the growth in the percentage occurred,
however, during the period 1900 to 1916.
6. We were unable to secure complete data showing the propor-
tion of total contributions coming in amounts of various sizes,
but if the sums given to the Community Chest may be taken
as a criterion, it appears that large gifts are much more im-
portant than small gifts in swelling the aggregate, two-thirds
of the money contributed being received from persons giving
$100 or more.Approximately the same ratio holds for ten
other sample Organizations from which. it was possible to
secure a record of contributions classified according to size.
7.Astudy of the percentages of the total direct expenditures
made by all organizations for philanthropic purposes shows
that the fraction of the total used for the relief of the poor,
'This increase is based upon a comparison of the average of the years 1900-1904
with the average of 1923-1925.76 TRENDS IN PHILANTHROPY
afflicted and delinquent has remained about constant, being
approximately one-fourth in 1900 and the same in 1925. On
the other hand, health work has been steadily absorbing an
increasing percentage of the total expenditures, the amount
used for this purpose having .grown from 17 per cent in 1900
to 35 per cent in 1925. The percentage of the total used for
secular education has also risen, increasing from less than 2
per cent in 1900 to nearly 6 per cent in 1925.In this connec-
tion, it must be remembered that the study did not cover
institutions, such as schools, the main purpose of which was
education. The work denominated as character building, un-
dertaken, in the main, by such organizations as the Young
Men's Christian Association, the Young Women's Christian
Association, the Young Men's Hebrew Association, and the
Knights of Columbus, showed a marked increase between 1900
and 1916, having risen during that period fromto 10 per
cent of the total.Since the last mentioned date, it has again
declined, until now this type of work absorbs only about 6
per cent of the total.The type of expenditure which shows
the most marked relative loss is that for religious work.In
1900 this type of work received 47 per cent of all money dis-
bursed for philanthropic purposes, while, by 1919, the per-
centage had declined to 24 per cent.Since that date, the
relative position of religious and secular work has remained
approximately constant, religious work receiving about one-
fourth of the total direct expenditures.
8. One of the most striking features brought out by the inves-
tigation is the marked strength of the cyclical movements in
individual contributions.Receipts from investments, earn-
ings, and contributions from government to philanthropic
purposes have grown rather steadily, showing but little of the
cyclical effects characterizing gifts from individuals.The
quarter century from 1900 to 1925 includes six distinct waves
in contributions, the crests in 1902, 1909, and 1918 being the
highest peaks, with minor tops in 1904, 1914, and 1923. There
were six distinct troughs, those of 1903, 1907, 1912, 1916, and
1920 being about equally depressed. A trough is also apparent
in 1924, but, in that year, the depression was much less
marked then in former cycles.The average wave length
appears to be about 4 years. The correlation with the criteria
usually taken to represent the business cycle is not at all close.

Trends in Philanthropy: A Study in a Typical American City

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