Religion Gets Largest Share of Charity in U.S.

Americans gave about $290 billion to charity last year. That was $10 billion more than the amount of charitable giving in 2009. The estimates are from the Giving USA Foundation and its research partner, the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University.

The largest share of charitable giving goes to religious groups. Giving USA says the received 35 percent of all donations in 2010. Schools and other education-related organizations were second on the list. They received an estimated 14 percent of all charitable giving last year.