Charitable giving and philanthropic behavior are frequently the subject of media reports and newspaper headlines. Examining the incentives and barriers to charitable behavior, Dashefsky and Lazerwitz account for such giving by members of the Jewish community. A discussion of motivations for charitable giving, Charitable Choices relies on quantitative and qualitative data in one religio-ethnic community.

Religion in Philanthropic Organizations explores the tensions inherent in religious philanthropies across a variety of organizations and examines the effect assumptions about "professional, scientific, nonsectarian" philanthropy have had on how religious philanthropies carry out their activities. The organizations examined include the American Friends Service Committee, the American Soviet Jewry Movement, Catholic Charities USA, the Salvation Army, the World Council of Churches, and World Vision (in global comparative context). The book also looks at Robert Pierce, founder of World Vision and Samaritan's Purse, and at matters not bounded by a single religious philanthropy: philanthropy and Jewish identity, American Muslim philanthropy since 9/11, and the complexities of the federal program that funds faith-based initiatives. These essays shed light on how religion and philanthropy function in American society, shaping and being shaped by the culture and its notions of the "common good."