Study: Red States Give More to Charity Than Blue States

The survey of 2008 data by the Chronicle of Philanthropy shows more giving in states that voted Republican; the numbers even out when donations to religious institutions are excluded.

Middle-income people gave more to charities in 2008 than wealthy people, and those in Republican-leaning states gave more than those in Democratic states, a new study by the Chronicle of Philanthropy finds. The South is first among four regions studied by the Chronicle, giving an average of 5.2 percent of discretionary income to charity, compared with 4.1 percent in the Northeast. Religious involvement plays a major role in charitible giving: When only donations to secular charities are counted, the Northeast leads, giving 1.4 percent of discretionary income to the South's 0.9 percent. (See the second PDF displayed to the right of this story's text.) The charitable giving data is searchable down to the ZIP code level in the Chronicle of …

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