Passionate Steward - 10th Anniversary Edition

Recovering Christian Stewardship from Secular Fundraising 95
Canada, even outdistancing Ontario, by far Canada’s wealthiest
province. 44
Likewise, statistics show lower income Americans to be
increasingly philanthropically inclined. A review of the chart
previously cited, “Distribution of Charitable Giving by Income
Levels” (p. 93) shows that the percentage contributed by lower
income Americans actually grew, more than quintupling in less than
five years. In other words, the most significant growth in
philanthropic giving took place amongst the poorest of Americans,
often those most in need of philanthropic dollars themselves. To
ignore lower income givers is not only contrary to our Christian
values and understanding of generosity as taught in the story of ‘the
Widow’s Mite’ (Mk 12:41–44) but, in the vulgar phrase of secular
fundraisers, “leaves money on the table.”
For the Christian community, the pursuit of major gifts from
the wealthy can lead to other extremely unhealthy trends in
44 Adapted from: Statistics Canada, NSGVP Highlights, Catalogue no. 71–542–XIE,
1997, p. 54,56,58,60,64.