This study examines the effects of race and gender on philanthropy and interaction effects between race or gender and survey methodologies. Results indicate differences in philanthropic behaviors by gender but not by race. We also find significant interaction effects between survey methodologies and race and gender, which may have important implications for social science research in which race and/or gender explain or predict behaviors. Economic theory dictates that public goods and goods with large externalities can lead to market failures that can be ameliorated by taxes, subsidies, or regulation. Private philanthropy can play an important role in addressing these market failures, especially for smaller, less politically powerful groups (Weisbrod, 1975) whose preferences are not reflected in the outcomes of majority voting. Conditional on their ability to overcome free riding, marginalized groups, such as women and minorities, can use the nonprofit sector as a substitute for government-supplied public goods. We test whether race and/or gender affects charitable giving by American households as measured under commonly adopted survey methodologies.