[bigbootch]

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Hell no. Religious people in general are much more likely to give to religious institutions / charity than directly to beggars.

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I happen to disagree with your opinion here, but even if it were true, that would still not preclude in front of a church as the best panhandling spot. Even if they are more likely to give to institutions than directly to beggars, it could still be the case that they give directly to beggars at a higher rate than non-religious people.

Anyway, surprisingly I haven't seen anyone mention the following so far: peer pressure. I think this is the single biggest factor, not whether they have change or not. What I mean is, panhandling at a spot that is likely to have groups of people walking by, where the people in this group have some incentive to make themselves look good. If even one person in this group gives to the beggar, the rest will give also instead of standing there looking like an [censored]. Even if none of them would have given to the beggar independently, they may now do so to try to look good.

Now, where might be the best place for this, I'm not sure. The first place that comes to mind is a higher-end restaurant, where people are more likely to be there on dates / business meetings / other situation where there is incentive to impress the others, versus like a Bennigan's where it's probably some 60 year old couple or whatever.

-bigbootch