Giving and Need – Opportunity Index and Giving Ratio

This is a follow up to my post of April 15 regarding the comparison of giving and religious beliefs.

Also from the Chronicle of Philanthropy, check out the article and interactive map which compares an “Opportunity Index” with a “Giving Ratio.”  The overall conclusion is that more affluent regions have a tendency to be less generous in their giving.  Again, you find that the southern part of the US and the Rocky Mountain regions are more generous givers.

“Giving Ratio” for this article is the percent of income donated to charity, as compiled from IRS Schedule A itemized deductions (I’m not sure I want to know how they obtained this information).

“Opportunity Index” is a score assigned based upon the socioeconomic measurements of different locations.

Now, you should assume that these are very, very, broad brushstrokes.  The data is by no means comprehensive, and leaves a lot of unanswered questions.  However, it might be statistically significant enough to suggest a pattern, which is all that the article does.   The percentages are not disparate enough to provide much confidence in their conclusions (that wealthier people tend to give less, and vice versa), but it is interesting to see what the numbers say about different locations.  How does YOUR county fare?

A Mismatch Between Need and Affluence