Latino charitable giving rates drop sharply — but that’s not the full story

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The share of Latinos who give to established charities has dropped sharply since 2008, a new study has found

The share of Latinos who give to established charities has dropped sharply since 2008, a new study has found. The same has been true for other Americans, but the percentage of Hispanics who give to help people in need through less formal efforts is higher than for others in the United States.

Those findings come from a study released last week by Hispanics in Philanthropy, an organization that works to advance Latino giving, and the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.

The report found that 26% of Latinos gave in 2018, the most recent data available, compared with 44% in 2008. The share of all Americans who give has also been on the decline: Only half of households gave in 2018, compared with two thirds in 2000.

One likely reason for the disparity between Latinos and other donors can be traced to the lack of economic growth for Hispanics, who are the country’s second largest ethnic group.

The average income for Latino households has stayed largely flat from 2000 to 2018, according to the report. While income was also steady for other groups, most started out with higher incomes than Hispanic households.

Still, the rate of Hispanics giving to help others in informal ways, such as crowdfunding for a neighbor’s medical bills, funding a relative’s education, and sending money to family members in another country, are higher than those of others. Sixteen percent of Latino households gave that way, on average, from 2000 to 2018, compared with 12.6% of other households, the report found. (That finding excludes giving to members of the same household.)

Una Osili, associate dean for research and