Community Corner
Maryland One of Country's Most Generous States in 2016
Maryland residents ranked in the top 5 for generosity and volunteering, according to a report from the finances site WalletHub.
Congratulations Maryland, residents share their blessings with their neighbors. The state ranks fourth in a new list of the most charitable states in the nation, down from the No. 2 spot last year.
Maryland has the highest percentage of taxpayers who donated money to charity, 38.2 percent, 3.1 times higher than in West Virginia, which has the lowest at 12.3 percent, according to the personal finances website.
And Maryland ranked No. 3 overall for the amount of volunteering and service done by residents.
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With Nov. 29 being #GivingTuesday as a way to combat consumerism and help communities and nearly a third of all annual giving taking place in December, WalletHub on Monday released its report on 2016’s Most Charitable States as well as a Charity Calculator to help donors maximize their philanthropic impact.
To determine the most generous states, WalletHub compared them based on 13 key metrics including volunteer rates, the percentage of taxpayers who donated to charity, growth in charitable giving and the percentage of sheltered homeless.
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WalletHub's ranking of 2016’s Most & Least Charitable States names Utah as the most generous state for the second straight year, followed by Minnesota, North Dakota, Maryland, Oklahoma, Delaware, and New Hampshire. Rounding out the top 10 were Ohio, Wisconsin and Arkansas.
The 10 least charitable states are: Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Louisiana, Florida, Montana, Hawaii, Nevada, Texas, California and Arizona, according to the website.
The latest World Giving Index shows that Americans are some of the most generous people in the world, ranking second out of 140 countries in 2015. That year, U.S. donors gave more than $373 billion to charity, and 71 percent of that figure came directly from individuals, according to the National Philanthropic Trust.
But Americans don’t just reach in their pockets to help the needy. They also contribute their time — and plenty of it. Between 2014 and 2015, nearly 63 million people volunteered with an organization at least once, serving a median of 52 hours per year.
Want to give back instead of receive this holiday season? Use WalletHub’s Charity Calculator to help you determine how best to pitch in, depending on your resources and availability.
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