1 minute read
SECTION
ABOUT BROWARD: DEMOGRAPHICS AND GIVING TRENDS
Broward County residents who make charitable giving a priority in their lives have helped our community rise above a concerning statewide trend in philanthropy.
As Florida’s population and wealth continue to grow through the years, the percentage of people reporting charitable donations is on the decline. The Florida Nonprofit Alliance (FNA) documented this “soft giving” culture in its 2021 report that explored a decade of the state’s giving trends. It shows that the number of Florida residents reporting donations has declined, despite the growth in the state’s population and wealth. The report found that just 7.4% of Florida tax filers reported making charitable contributions, compared to 9.7% nationally in 2018 (the most recent tax filing data available). Broward’s charitable “participation rate” was 9.5%, which ranked 9th out of the state’s 67 counties.
In addition, the FNA study found that the donors in just four South Florida counties – Broward along with Palm Beach, Miami-Dade and Collier counties – generated nearly half (46%) of all charitable gifts reported
POPULATION CHARACTERISTICS 2019
by Florida tax filers in 2018. The study determined that a concentration of high-income donors in South Florida drives Florida’s charitable giving.
FNA’s review of tax filings also shows that charitable giving by Broward residents has been trending upward during the past decade, averaging $1.2 billion a year between 2016 and 2018.
It’s important to note that donations reported on tax returns don’t reflect all the charitable giving in Broward and beyond. Also, federal tax law changes that took effect in 2018 have resulted in
B
Median household income
Owner occupied housing units
Estimated population
Median age
Percent of population in the same house 1 year ago
