Giving and Volunteering in the United States is a series of biennial national surveys that report trends in giving and charitable behavior. The surveys act as barometers of how socioeconomic conditions and tax laws affect the charitable behavior of Americans. They also chart public attitudes about a variety of issues that affect the climate for giving and volunteering, and explore behavioral and motivational factors that influence giving and volunteering.

In this 1988 report, findings relating to contributions are for households, and findings relating to volunteer time are for individuals. Several persons may work or live in a household, and they usually think of income in relation to their household; therefore, respondents were asked to report on household contributions and income. In contrast, volunteer time was collected for individuals because research has shown that individuals know how much time they volunteer, but do not report very accurately about volunteer time of other members of their households. This report includes highlights of this study and the detailed findings.