New York Has One of Lowest Volunteer Rates in the USA: New Report

'Tis the season to be generous and giving — nearly a third of all annual giving takes place in December — but New York state doesn't measure up well in a new report on 2016’s Most Charitable States from the personal-finance website WalletHub.

New York's overall was ranked No. 38. The state landed in the middle as far as "Charitable Giving" — ranked No. 21. But as far as "Volunteering & Service" New York was ranked No. 44. And for volunteering alone, New York was ranked No. 49.

"Charities need volunteers," said Professor Joannie Tremblay-Boire of Georgia State University, one of WalletHub's panel of experts adding insight in the Most Charitable States report. "Giving your time is just as valuable as giving your money, specially if you have some specialized skills that you can contribute."

Wondering about how the folks at WalletHub came up with these sweeping conclusions?

In order to identify the most philanthropic states, their analysts compared the 50 states across those two key dimensions “Volunteering & Service” and “Charitable Giving.” They were evaluated using 13 metrics ranging from “volunteer rate” to “percentage of income donated” to “percentage of sheltered homeless.” WalletHub also cites the latest World Giving Index and the National Philanthropic Trust. Check out the methodology here.

When you look at the best v. worst states for volunteering specifically, here's what you get.

Lowest Volunteer Rate:
47. Louisiana
48. Nevada
49. New York
50. Mississippi
51. Florida
Highest Volunteer Rate:
1. Utah
2. South Dakota
3. Minnesota
4. Wisconsin
5. Nebraska

Apparently the effort by VolunteerNewYork! to promote volunteering and tie it to the events of Sept. 11, 20o1, hasn't made much of a dent. 9/11: Serve + Remember is an extension of the National Day of Service and Remembrance, an annual series of community action events meant to provide all members of the community a way to give back through a variety of good deeds and service projects and honor the memories of those lost.

Just in time for #givingTuesday, WalletHub also released a Charity Calculator you can check if you want to maximize your philanthropic impact.

"Giving money is not your only option," Tremblay-Boire said. "But do remember that charities invest in you when you come in as a volunteer — they show you around, they train you and so on — so you don't want to waste their time either. If you can, try to volunteer regularly or semi-regularly in the same organizations instead of volunteering once and never going back."

SEE: Don't Forget: 9/11 Day of Service

Images via WalletHub