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Arizona ranked among least charitable states
by Eugene Scott, The Republic | azcentral.com | 11 a.m. MST May 22, 2014 (link here)
A recent study ranks Arizona among the least charitable states, based on donations and volunteerism.
Gallup conducted a poll with at least 600 residents from each state from June to December of last year that asked residents if they had donated money to charity or volunteered time to an organization in the past month.
About a quarter — 26 percent — of Arizonans said they had given money and had done some community service in the past month. Arizona tied with Mississippi and New York.
The only states that had fewer than 26 percent of residents donating their time and money were Nevada and Kentucky.
Residents in most states were more likely to donate money than volunteer their time, following the results in previous surveys.
Utah and Minnesota are the only states where the majority of people said they had given money and donated time in the past month.
But local non-profit leaders say Arizona may not be getting a fair shake.
"Gallup is a reputable polling company, but I was looking for a more detailed study," said Robert Ashcraft, executive director of the Arizona State University Lodestar Center for Philanthropy & Nonprofit Innovation. "It's interesting, but it begs so many more questions."
Gallup said states where giving is low also had lower "well-being" scores. In determining well-being, Gallup examined residents' life evaluation, emotional health, work environment, physical health, healthy behaviors and access to basic necessities.
Despite ranking low in charitable giving and service, Arizona's well-being score, 67.2, was above the national average of 66.2, leaving some to ask about the inconsistency.
Ashcraft said the survey, which had a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points, would have been more helpful had it been broken down by demographics. Charitable trends sometimes differ by age group, gender, ethnicity and faith, he said.
"We've seen on the volunteering side actually a rise in younger populations and a decline in older populations, so I have a hard time generalizing across an entire population," Ashcraft said.
Despite very few Arizonans giving both their time and resources, the survey said 60 percent of residents said they had given money within the past month.
But that doesn't change much in terms of Arizona's national ranking. Residents in 41 states donated as much money or more than Arizona residents, placing Arizona in the bottom third.
Local foundation executives question the report and point to the 2012 "How America Gives" report by the Chronicle of Philanthropy. That study, based on itemized deductions collected from the Internal Revenue Service, named Arizona the 18th-most charitable state. The report said Arizona households gave 4.6 percent of their income. The median donation was $2,436.
Megan Brownell, chief business development and brand officer at the Arizona Community Foundation, thinks more Arizonans are giving than acknowledged in the Gallup poll.
Events such as Arizona Gives Day, which raised nearly $1.4 million in 24 hours, and record-breaking fundraising at the foundation lead Brownell to be hopeful about the state's philanthropic forecast.
"We've seen, particularly in recent years with the economic rebound, increases in giving across every sector of the non-profit community — arts, environmental, health all reported having an improved financial impact," she said.
Because some were asked about their giving as early as June, it is possible that the survey did not factor in that they may have given later in the year, especially around Christmas, Brownell said.
"Here at the Arizona Community Foundation, we receive more than one-third of our total annual gifts during the two-month period of November-December," she said.
According to the Gallup poll, only 35 percent of Arizonans donated time alone. Only four states had fewer residents participating in community service.
Rhonda Oliver, CEO of HandsOn Greater Phoenix, a community service-based non-profit, was not surprised by the report. She said she's seen other data saying Arizonans participate in less community-service activities than people in other states.
"Our lifestyle here is more siloed," she said. "I think people largely live behind their garage doors, so we don't always know what the needs of the community are."
But Arizonans who do volunteer their time may not do it through a formal organization, Oliver said.
"Our populations volunteer in more informal ways," she said. "I think a lot of our population volunteers helping out family members and helping out neighbors, so it's not necessarily captured in a report like this."
Oliver believes volunteerism is increasing in Phoenix, especially among Millennials.