Originally posted to sCNN – the smallChangeNewsNetwork
This from the CS Monitor…
At this time of the year, charities of every shape and size are hunting for the most generous donors. To find them, the Catalogue for Philanthropy has a counterintuitive suggestion: Look in the nation’s poorest states. That’s because the Catalogue’s Generosity Index for 2004 shows that giving as a percentage of income is highest in states where folks have the least to give. Mississippi – the nation’s poorest in terms of average household income – ranks No. 1 in generosity, followed by Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana.
By contrast, residents of the nation’s richest states appear downright Scrooge-like. Connecticut claims the highest average household income but ranks 44th in terms of percentage of income donated to charity. New Jersey and Massachusetts seem even stingier, ranking 47th and 49th respectively in giving, despite their second- and third-place rankings in income.
This article goes on to comment on why this is so, considering religion, geography, race and other factors. That seems not as important as noticing that little individuals give significantly from what they have. My guess is that they’d be closer to their recipients, too.
I think that’s the opportunity with sCNN… to make more personal giving connections between little individuals. If people can date online, surely they can get to know each other well enough to support projects for the common good.
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