Kids & Family

Maryland Ranks High in Charitable Giving

But other states rank higher. Does being a "blue state" have something to do with it?

Maryland ranks 11th in the nation in terms of how much its residents donate of their discretionary income to charity, according to an analysis released Monday by the Chronicle of Philanthropy.

Utah was listed as the top state, with residents giving 10.6 percent of their discretionary income to charity. In Maryland, people give on average 5.7 percent of discretionary income, according to the analysis, based on IRS records from 2008.

The top five jurisdictions in the study for giving were: Utah; Washington, DC;  Mississippi; Alabama; and Tennessee.

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Looking at the 20878, 20854, 20850 and 20874 ZIP codes, residents of North Potomac and Darnestown ranked among the nation’s highest in total contribution, but lagged behind the Montgomery County figures for median contribution and percentage of income given away, according to a map of giving published by the Chronicle:

20878           

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  • Total contribution: $42.9 million, ranking in the top 1 percent nationwide (310 out of 28,725)
  • The median contribution of $2,491 falls outside the top third (12,095 out of 28,725)
  • In percentage of income given away, the 20878 ZIP code stumbled nearly to the bottom third with 3.6 percent of income on average (17,980 out of 28,725)

20854

  • The total contribution of $139.7 million ranks 21st among the country’s 28,725 ZIP codes
  • The median contribution of $8,695 falls inside the top 1 percent (259 out of 28,725)
  • But in terms of percentage of income given away, the 20854 ZIP code ranked in the middle of the pack by donating 4.4 percent of income on average (12,847 out of 28,725)

20850

  • The total contribution of $36.5 million ranks just outside the top 1 percent nationwide (445 out of 28,725)
  • The median contribution of $2,643 falls outside the top third (10,804 out of 28,725) nationally and lags behind the median for Montgomery County as a whole
  • For percentage of income donated, the 20850 ZIP code ranked near the middle (15,077 out of 28,725) nationally, at 4.1 percent of income given away on average, which lagged well behind the county-wide figure

20874

  • The total contribution of $32.7 million ranks just outside the top 1 percent nationwide (573 out of 28,725)
  • The median contribution of $2,080 falls outside the top third (16,160 out of 28,725) nationally and is nearly one third less than the median for Montgomery County as a whole
  • In percentage of income, the 20874 ZIP code ranked 11,374 out of 28,725 nationally, at 4.7 percent of income given away on average

Montgomery County cracked the Top 20 nationwide in total contributions ($952.8 million, ranking 18 out of 3,115 counties) but landed near the middle in median contribution ($2,952, ranking 1,115) and percent of income given (5.8 percent, ranking 1,518).

Maryland’s ranking was met with praise by nonprofit experts and advocates in the state.

“I think Maryland is a very, very generous state, I do,” said Elise Lee, chief development officer of the United Way of Central Maryland.

“I think that the need is greater than it ever has been,” she added. “People that haven’t struggled in the past are faced with challenges they’ve never faced-with the rising costs of food, health care, housing.

“For those that can give, I think that Maryland continues to step up to the plate," Lee said.

The Chronicle of Philanthropy also analyzed giving compared to a state’s political affiliation. Among its major findings: Those in predominantly conservative states that are known as deeply religious donate a bigger share of their discretionary income than those in predominantly liberal states.

Experts said that could have as much to do with tax incentives as religion.

Donors in Southern states give about 5.2 percent of their discretionary income to charity compared to the Northeast, which gives 4.1 percent, according to the analysis.

The Chronicle reported that one reason for the discrepancy between red states and blue states is rooted in government policies.

Ten states—Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Virginia—have tax credit programs to encourage charitable giving to schools.

The programs allow individuals or corporations to donate a part of their owed income taxes to private schools that issue scholarships to K-12 students, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Robert Grimm Jr., director at the Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership at the University of Maryland at College Park, cautioned against drawing too many conclusions from the data on blue and red states and giving.

The analysis looks at how states voted in the past election and compares it with giving patterns, but it isn’t able to drill down to the political affiliation of individual donors, said Grimm.

“I would say one has to be cautious how this report makes that connection,” Grimm said.

Grimm said Maryland’s ranking is “pretty strong,” which he attributed to it being a state that has good engagement in religion and volunteering, combined with high education levels.

He pointed to data from VolunteeringinAmerica, a site that publishes trends on volunteering, which says the largest percentage of Marylanders—32.7 percent—volunteered through a religious organization in 2008 to 2010.

According to a Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life poll, 56 percent of those surveyed in Maryland/D.C. said in 2009 that religion is very important in their lives, the same as the national average.

“There’s a strong obligation, particularly in certain religions, to give,” Grimm said. “Religions have the potential [to say], ‘Your sins may be forgiven.’ " 

For a map of giving across the country, click here.

Have you donated to charity? What inspired you? Tell us about it in comments. 

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