A1998-1999 survey of the giving and volunteering practices of 3,616 adult Californians yielded some methodological considerations concerning research on charitable behavior. The survey paid particular attention to prompting respondent recall, informal giving and volunteering, and possible race/ethnicity differences in charitable behavior. On several key measures, reported levels of giving and volunteering exceeded national estimates based on Independent Sector studies. Californians were found to engage extensively in informal as well as formal charitable behavior. Multivariate analysis controlling for income, educational attainment, and immigration status revealed no significant race/ethnicity-based differences in giving and volunteering.
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