Did you give as much money to charity last year compared to the start of the pandemic in 2020, when the needs perhaps seemed more urgent? If you did, you were in tune with how Americans overall supported charities of all kinds in 2021. All told, giving to food pantries, museums and every other kind of cause totaled $485 billion, nearly matching 2020 levels after adjusting for the inflation that began to spiral upward in 2021.
Summing up the findings of the latest Giving USA report they helped produce, IUPUI philanthropy researchers Anna Pruitt and Jon Bergdoll note that other factors have historically played a bigger role than inflation in determining how much money flows to charities, including economic growth and stock market performance. But "with inflation running at a much faster clip in 2022 than 2021," they add, "we’re keeping an eye on any effects it may have on giving until rates subside."
Also today:
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Emily Schwartz Greco
Philanthropy + Nonprofits Editor
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Charitable donations fund a wide array of nonprofits, such as Habitat for Humanity.
John Wolfsohn/Getty Image
Anna Pruitt, IUPUI; Jon Bergdoll, IUPUI
Some of the largest donations made in 2021 went to donor-advised funds, financial accounts known as DAFs.
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Economy + Business
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Andrii Parkhomenko, University of Southern California; Eunjee Kwon, University of Cincinnati
Urban economics experts are creating simulated cities to forecast the effect that permanent telecommuting could have on city centers and housing.
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Politics + Society
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Joshua Holzer, Westminster College
Many countries welcome foreigners who want to join their military forces.
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Science + Technology
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Tallie Z. Baram, University of California, Irvine
Parents are often the primary source of information that children receive from their environment. How consistent parents’ interactions with their children are matters.
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Bradley Allf, North Carolina State University; Caren Cooper, North Carolina State University
The homogeneity of citizen science volunteers undercuts the ability of these projects to bring science to underserved communities.
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Ethics + Religion
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Charles J. Russo, University of Dayton
Once again, the court has expanded the legal ways that public funds can be used for students at religious institutions.
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Arts + Culture
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Alyssa Collins, University of South Carolina
In an interview, scholar Alyssa Collins explains how her time spent plumbing the sci fi writer’s papers left her stunned by the breadth of her interests and the depth of her scientific knowledge.
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Environment + Energy
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William Gallus, Iowa State University
Heat domes are a dangerous part of summer weather.
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Theodore J. Kury, University of Florida
Sometimes wind and solar power produce more electricity than the local grid can handle. Better energy storage and transmission could move extra energy to where it’s needed instead of shutting it off.
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Education
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Jeff Inglis, The Conversation
With teachers reporting record-high levels of burnout, and more burnout than any other profession in the US, scholars examine what’s going on and what it may mean for education.
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