During the Holiday Season, How Charitable is Swampscott?

By Charlene Arsenault

Charities are remarkably active during this time of year. Food pantries often report an uptick in donations, and Toys for Tots collections come pouring in. Folks give to collections for catastrophes, for medical advancements and for shelters - both human and animal. And they donate time, cleaning the earth and serving food.

It’s all tracked in the Charities Aid Foundation’s report to the World Giving Index, which was featured and analyzed recently by WalletHub.

As a country, the U.S. was the only nation that ranked in the Top 10 for each of the three categories studied.

But WalletHub looked intently at the generosity of Americans, finding that, according to the National Philanthropic Trust, 95.4 percent of households donate to charities, contributing an average of $2,974. And 63 million volunteered with an organization, reported the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Massachusetts isn’t the least charitable, but it also isn’t at the top, according to WalletHub. Falling below the middle, the state had an overall rank of number 32. The top five spots in the country belonged to Utah, South Dakota, Idaho, Kansas and Nebraska. Kentucky, West Virginia and Nevada held the bottom three spots.

WalletHub also found that red states were more giving than blue states, with Republican states giving 27.04 percent to Democrats’ 23.67.

In the categories of highest volunteer rate and highest percentage of donated income, Massachusetts, again, did not come out on top or bottom. For the “median contribution to charity,” Massachusetts ranked nearly at the bottom, at number 48, only beating Maine and Rhode Island. Massachusetts, however, has the fourth-highest number of charities per capita in the state, according to the report.

Read the full report.

Greatnonprofits.com lists charities located in Swampscott here.

Swampscott, what charities do you donate to, and why? Please share your thoughts and information below in the comments section and help spread the word.