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A lot to give

Giving to human services

John Ketchum Dec 8, 2013

Giving to human services jumped by more than 3 percent from 2011 to 2012.  In 2012, the bulk of human services donations went towards organizations providing relief for communities in New Jersey and New York affected by Hurricane Sandy.

According to an annual report from the University of Indiana’s Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, human services organizations received about 75 percent of the $400 million in contributions to Hurricane Sandy relief.

Donations to human services include support to Food and nutrition, legal services, housing and shelter, recreation and sports, employement services and vocational training and community disaster relief.

How do you give?

As part of our special series on philanthropy and charitable giving in the United States we’re taking a look at a few things: Where did our strong history of philanthropy come from? What are the economic ramifications of how Americans give? 

As part of the reporting we’re looking back at the history of some of the biggest philanthropists in U.S. history. John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, Bill and Melinda Gates, Warren Buffett.

In gauging how important those folks are we would also like to know how the average person gives.

 What inspires you to give money to your local charity? Do you see philanthropy as time spent on a cause or money spent supporting it? We want to know!

 We’ll use your answers to support future reporting on how people give.

Click here to get started!

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