A recent report issued by The Barna Group shows results from a survey about giving patterns in America. The survey polled a random sample of 1006 adults selected from across the US. What they discovered is that few Americans give. In fact, just 5 percent tithed in 2007. Here are those most likely to give away ten percent of their income:

- Evangelicals (24% of whom tithed)
- Conservatives (12%)
- People who had prayed, read the Bible and attended church during the past week (12%)
- Charismatic or Pentecostal Christians (11%)
- Registered Republicans (10%)

The study shows Christians tend to be the most generous group of donors. And here is a break-down of three dominant subgroups:

- Evangelicals, the 7% of the population who are most committed to the Christian faith, donated a mean of $4260 to all non-profit entities in 2007.
- Non-evangelical born again Christians, who represent another 37% of the public, donated a mean of $1581.
- The other 42% of the Christian population, who are aligned with a Christian church but are not born again, donated a mean of $865.
- Overall, the three segments of the Christian community averaged donations of $1426.
- Americans that are a part of non-Christian faiths gave away an average of $905 in 2007.

The born again portion of the population donated a mean of $1971 and according to the Barna Group, that’s the highest level reached by this group in this decade. But the news isn’t all good for churches:

- The percentage of born again adults who gave any money to churches dropped to its lowest level this decade (76%).
- During the first five years of the decade, an average of $.84 out of every dollar donated by born again adults went to churches.
- In the past three years, that has dropped to just 76 cents out of every donated dollar.

George Barna explained the shift like this:
“Born again adults remain the most generous givers in a country acknowledged to be the most generous on the planet,” said the veteran researcher. “But their donation decisions must be seen in the larger context of the changes occurring in a wide range of religious behaviors. With millions of people shifting their allegiance to different forms of church experience, and a more participatory society altering how people interact and serve others, many Christians are now giving their money to different types of organizations instead of a church. They attend conventional churches less often. They are expanding their circle of Christian relationships beyond local church boundaries. And they are investing greater amounts of their time and money in service organizations that are not connected with a conventional church. That doesn’t make such giving inappropriate or less significant, it’s just a different way of addressing social needs.”