A recent report from the Chronicle of Philanthropy found that Utah leads the nation in charitable giving, with Salt Lake City being the most generous city in the country. The study attributes this generosity to Utah’s large number of members of The Church of Jesus-Christ of Latter-day Saints, who are asked to donate 10 percent of their income in tithing and other offerings as a requirement of their faith.
Indeed, faith appears to play a large role in charitable giving. After Utah, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia round out the top five most charitable states. Each of these Bible Belt states has a large religious population, which seems to correlate with more donations. It’s encouraging to see that, when it comes to helping the poor and the needy, Christians are actively practicing what they preach.
It’s also noteworthy to recognize that this money is coming largely from those who have to make sacrifices in order to give. Talli Phillips, who runs a Los Angeles nonprofit to help the homeless, called the Midnight Mission, told the Associated Press that a bad economy “hits closer to home” for lower-income families, which prompts them to dig deep to help their friends and neighbors who are struggling. “Any day, they too could become homeless,” he said.
That also may partially explain why wealthier donors give less during difficult economic times.
The report said even though Americans earning more than $200,000 annually saw an increase in their income over the past six years, they gave 4.6 percent less of their income than they had previously, compared to those earning less than $100,000 per year, who gave 4.5 percent more. During the six-year time frame analyzed in the report, the United Way reported the number of donors giving less than $2,000 jumped from 29 percent to 39 percent of all its donations. Large contributions were much harder to come by.
It doesn’t have to be that way.
Researchers at Rutgers University posit that the rich are more unaware than uncaring. When they are confronted with data about the plight of the working poor, they tend to open their hearts — and their pocketbooks — far more generously. The wealthy also tend to support charities that aren’t directly poverty-related, such as arts and university programs. Getting them to change their philanthropy habits requires education, and some charities are adjusting their approach so that affluent donors can better understand where the needs are.
That’s the right strategy. Rather than wring their hands over the downturn in wealthy donors, these charities are taking a proactive approach to solve the problem. The nation’s giving habits offer much encouragement, but there is also so much more that could be done.