Most Charitable States

[hottytoddy]

I thought this was intersting. This was on the evening news here the other night so I looked it up. They actually didn't mention them being red states or blue states...but the website did. It's a list of states and their rank based on the percentage that they gave to charity last year. Highest to lowest.

http://michellemalkin.com/archives/000839.htm






Income per capita. (highest to lowest) Taken from www.census.gov

1.Connecticut 38,450
2. New Jersey 35,521
3. Massachusetts 35,333
4. Maryland 32,680
5. New York 32,451
6. New Hampshire 30,912
7. Minnesota 30,675
8. Illinois 30,075
9. Colorado 29,959
10. California 29,707
11. Virginia 29,641
12. Delaware 29,512
13. Washington 29,420
14. Alaska 28,947
15. Pennsylvania 28,565
16. Rhode Island 28,198
17. Wyoming 27,530
18. Michigan 27,276
19. Nevada 27,172
20. Hawaii 27,011
21. Wisconsin 26,941
22. Nebraska 26,804
23. Florida 26,646
24. Vermont 26,620
25.Ohio 26,474
26. Kansas 26,237
27. Missouri 26,052
28. Georgia 25,949
29. Oregon 25,867
30. Texas 25,705
31. Iowa 25,461
32. Indiana 25,425
33. Maine 24,979
34. North Carolina 24,949
35. Tennessee 24,913
36. North Dakota 24,293
37. South Dakota 24,214
38. Arizona 23,573
39. Kentucky 23,030
40. Oklahoma 23,026
41. Louisiana 22,910
42. South Carolina 22,868
43. Alabama 22,624
44. Idaho 22,560
45. Montana 22,526
46. Utah 21,883
47. New Mexico 21,555
48. West Virginia 21,327
49. Arkansas 21,169
50. Mississippi 20,142

[hottytoddy]

OK, the image didn't work so I posted the link.

[honeychile]

Makes sense to me! The Bible Belt is taught to tithe from the moment they start Sunday School. Once you get into the habit of charitable giving, it becomes a life long habit.

Of course, I'm not saying that the BB are the ONLY ones who give, I've just seen too many of these statistics to uphold the belief that FOR WHATEVER REASON, they tend to be more charitable.

[Rudey]

If only everyone gave 10% of their income away...

-Rudey

[Peaches-n-Cream]

I see your list ranking income per capita for each state. Is there a list ranking giving per capita for each state? I think that New Yorkers are more generous than this list indicates.

[hottytoddy]

Originally posted by Peaches-n-Cream
I see your list ranking income per capita for each state. Is there a list ranking giving per capita for each state? I think that New Yorkers are more generous than this list indicates.

The giving is based on percentages of income per capita that are given.

[aurora_borealis]

Perhaps one should be done on time spent helping others and not just money. Maybe someone from a blue state makes a lot of money, but does pro bono legal work, or is a doctor or dentist that spends their vacation traveling through rural areas giving away free medical care. I know on my campus there are fraternities and sororities that rake leaves, chop wood, and shovel snow for the elderly for free, show up to help with Habitat for Humanity builds, march in "Take Back the Night", and collect canned food. There are plenty of people who give, and it isn't just dollars and cents.

And as far as the top giving states are concerned, they are not all in the Bible Belt. Just in the top ten you have Idaho, South Dakota, and Utah (though Utah & Southern Idaho are heavily Latter Day Saints aka Mormon). What I think is, the influence has nothing to do with religion and much more to do with rural/agricultural areas. If you grow up in smaller towns and communities, you know your neighbors and people nearby, and perhaps if Farmer Jones is about to lose his farm, the mill closes, the Johnson's house burned down or little Timmy has leukemia, etc, you're going to join together for the people you and your families have been intertwined with for a long time and see on a daily basis. Not to say people in larger cities don't care, as that isn't true, but moving from a large city to a small town, I've experienced it.

Oh, San Francisco is far from the Bible Belt, but we learned to tithe in Sunday School there as well. No area of the country has cornered the market on that. I don't think giving for others is completely tied to religion either. Most of my friends are religious in some way or another, but I know plenty of agnostics & atheists that are involved.

[Munchkin03]

Okay, I grew up in the Bible Belt, but I wasn't raised with any religious background--so, no tithing here! My parents didn't agree with the practice anyway, as they saw too many friends and relatives not paying their rent so they could give their 10% to the church. We were taught to contribute through works and deeds and then, if there was extra money, with our wallets.

I wouldn't be surprised if East Coasters give more in actual dollars, but a lower percentage of their incomes, than their southern counterparts.

[Peaches-n-Cream]

Originally posted by hottytoddy
The giving is based on percentages of income per capita that are given.

I wrote this last night, but it didn't post so here it is.

I checked out the website that you linked in your first post. I just think that it would be clearer if they showed the actual percentage or the amount of donations.

Mississippi ranks 50th in terms of income with an income of $20,142, but 1st for generosity. If Mississippi residents give 10% of their income to charity, that is $2,014.20
Connecticut ranks 1st in terms of income with $38,450, but 44th for generosity. If Connecticut residents give 7% of their income to charity, it's $2691.50.
So Mississippi give a greater percentage of their income to charity, but Connecticut gives more money.

Maybe I'm over thinking this. It is great when people are so generous with their hard earned money.

[hottytoddy]

Yes, they give more money. But they have more money to give. The income per capita is relevent.

Also, I'm not sure the tithes count. Do tithes count as a tax writeoff? I'm pretty sure that's where these numbers come from.

[honeychile]

For those who are offended that I used the term Bible Belt, it was the least offensive term that I could think of at the time. I could have used "fundie" or some of the other derogatory terms for committed Christians, but I also don't use the "n" word (or a lot of other words I find offensive).

Bottom line: those who are taught young that the first 10% of their income is not theirs to keep tend to be very charitable in general. Not just Christians, but anyone.

I'm mindful of the woman who gave Jesus her last coin, and how greater He considered that donation. I think someone who makes $20k a year, gives $2k, and lives on $18k has made a bigger sacrifice than someone who makes $200k, gives $20k, and lives on "only" $180k a year. At least, that's how I read the statistic.

As for donating one's time, I once had a camp counselor challenge us to "tithe" 10% of our time on acts of Christian kindness (including Bible study). That's 2 hours, 40 minutes every day, or 17 hours, 20 minutes a week. The pro bono attorney easily spends that much time, but I'm not so sure about the rest of us - I know that I fall short!

[sugar and spice]

Yes -- the methodology is very shady, and the creator of the "generosity index" even admits this. Depending on the factors you used, you could come up with an equation that could put any state on top of the "giving index." I think that they were purposely looking for a method that would give them a particular result . . . so, while it's an interesting figure, it's hardly accurate. There are just too many factors being overlooked -- the overall income, the lack of volunteer TIME being put in, etc.

I'm from a blue state, one that ranked in the bottom 5, I think, with this formula. You know how much money I've donated to charity in the past five or so years? Probably about five bucks. Do you know how much time I've donated? Literally hundreds upon hundreds of hours. Do you know how much STUFF (food, clothes, books, old furniture) I've given to charity? A lot. Many of my friends are similar -- most of our giving is based in forms other than giving our income away, but rather in time, stuff, or helping to raise money.

I wasn't raised with a religion, so no tithing here, but I don't really see tithing as being one hundred percent charity, and if the reports are based on that, I find them flawed. I don't see giving to a church (a church which's services you benefit from on a weekly if not daily basis) to be charity, unless the church is giving that money away to people who need it. And in that case, why not go directly to the charities rather than working through the church?

[hottytoddy]

Originally posted by sugar and spice

I wasn't raised with a religion, so no tithing here, but I don't really see tithing as being one hundred percent charity, and if the reports are based on that, I find them flawed. I don't see giving to a church (a church which's services you benefit from on a weekly if not daily basis) to be charity, unless the church is giving that money away to people who need it. And in that case, why not go directly to the charities rather than working through the church?

Yeah, I'm not sure tithing counts. If I were to guess I'd say it's based on who claimed charitable donations on their taxes.

[Rudey]

This study seems OK to me. Here is why:

1) It measures a relation of income to giving...in essence generosity.

2) The giving in terms of money and/or items is pretty well calculated as items of donation on your tax return. Unless your donation is not worthy of donation, most people record it. I can't think of a better way to record donations.

3) Why are people attacking it over time? Is there any reason to believe that people in the lower ranked states would volunteer more time??!? I doubt that is even a factor that changes from state to state.

4) This is a pretty legitimate foundation and it's also based in Massachusetts and DC.

-Rudey

[Peaches-n-Cream]

I think that tithing counts as a tax deductible contribution, but I'm not a CPA.

I have donated clothes, furniture, books, and food to a local charity. They give you a receipt so you have evidence of a charitable donation that can be used as a tax deduction.