How Charitable are RI Residents?

‘Tis the season for charitable giving. But not in Rhode Island, apparently.

Nearly a third of all annual giving takes place in December as the holidays approach. And while the U.S. ranks second overall in this year’s World Giving Index, some individual states — including Rhode Island — are not quite so generous.

The personal finance website WalletHub conducted an analysis of 2015’s Most & Least Charitable States. WalletHub shined the spotlight on the most generous of the 50 states in an effort, it said, to “increase their charitable giving this holiday season.”

Rhode Island ranked at the bottom of the list — number 50, just behind Louisiana. The most charitable state, according to WalletHub, is Utah.

WalletHub measured six key metics, including volunteer rate, the percentage of taxpayers who donated to charity, the average percentage of income each donated, the percentage who claim to have donated, growth in charitable giving and number of charities, per capita.

Rhode Island ranked toward the bottom in all but one category. The Ocean State is number 13 in highest number of charities.

The Massachusetts statistics include:

• Percentage of income donated — Rank: 47; 2.2 percent.
• Volunteer rate — Rank: 40; 23 percent.
• Percent who claimed to volunteer — Rank: 47; 34 percent.
• Volunteer hours per capita — Rank: 48; 23.9 hours.
• Growth in giving — Rank: 36; -5.9 percent.
• Number of charities per 10,000 residents — Rank: 13; 15.32.

By comparison, Utah, ranked the most charitable state in the nation, saw its residents give 6.6 percent of income; volunteer at a rate of 45.4 percent; and volunteer 75.5 hours, per capita.

Most Charitable States

1. Utah
2. Maryland
3. Idaho
4. Oregon
5. South Dakota
6. Tennessee
7. Georgia
8. Washington
9. Oklahoma
10. Minnesota

Least Charitable States

• 41. Wisconsin
• 42. New Jersey
• 43. Pennsylvania
• 44. Michigan
• 45. New York
• 46. Kentucky
• 47. Arizona
• 48. California
• 49. Louisiana
• 50. Rhode Island

Want to determine if you are donating what you should? WalletHub’s Charity Calculatorhelps donors decide how best to allocate their resources — based on their income and time — in order to maximize philanthropic impact.

What charities do you support? Let us, and readers, know all about them in our comments section below.

Image via WalletHub