Charitable choice implementation: What public managers should know about public opinion and the potential impact of government funding on private giving

Charitable Choice, a cornerstone of President Bush's domestic policy agenda, provides that faith-based organizations (FBOs) will have an opportunity to compete for government contracts. However, few empirical studies examine the impact of public funding to FBOs on individual charitable giving to FBOs. Using public opinion survey data and multivariate analysis to examine this relationship, we find that most financial supporters of FBOs report that they would not change their giving behavior in the wake of increased government funding to FBOs, contrary to the much-established crowding-out hypothesis. The policy and management implications of these findings are discussed.