The Wealthy Don't Give To Charity Like the Poor Do

In November of 2012 Richard A. Herman of Washington DC left 60% of his fortune, $28 million, to Family Matters of Greater Washington. The organization's charter includes helping teenage mothers and low-income seniors and sending disadvantaged kids to camp.

What may be most telling about the contribution is that it is thought to be one of the largest gifts ever to a local social service organization. While many on the right complain about the spread of socialism driven by Democrats and promote the fallacy that private charity should and will provide for those in need, the charitable actions of the nation's top earners directly refute those claims.

According to the Chronicle of Philanthropy (COP), the wealthy are more inclined to give their money to universities, the arts, and medical and health research. You may think of these as organizations that can put a family name on a building. 

Further analysis of giving by COP in 2011 shows that individuals earning less than $100,000 are mostly inclined to give to religious organizations (67%) and not institutions that focus on health, education, or the arts (7%). Almost the exact opposite can be said of the top 1%, households with earnings above $1M. These donors gave to religious charities 17% of the time while donating 65% to health, education, and the arts.

What about the Poor?

According to a 2009 study published by McClatchy, the group that donated the largest percentage of its income to charity was the poor. 

Individuals who earned less than $20,000 donated on average more than 4% of their incomes to charity. 

Finally, according to the results of seven separate studies conducted by University of California Berkeley, researchers showed consistently that upper-class participants were more likely to lie and cheat when gambling or negotiating; cut people off when driving, and endorse unethical behavior in the workplace.