“Americans gave nearly $300 billion to charitable causes last year, setting a new record and besting the 2005 total that had been boosted by a surge in aid to victims of hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma and the Asian tsunami” according to Associated Press .
“It tells you something about American culture that is unlike any other country,” said Claire Gaudiani, a professor at NYU’s Heyman Center for Philanthropy and author of “The Greater Good: How Philanthropy Drives the American Economy and Can Save Capitalism.” Gaudiani said the willingness of Americans to give cuts across income levels, and their investments go to developing ideas, inventions and people to the benefit of the overall economy. Gaudiani said Americans give twice as much as the next most charitable country, according to a November 2006 comparison done by the Charities Aid Foundation. In philanthropic giving as a percentage of gross domestic product, the U.S. ranked first at 1.7 percent. No. 2 Britain gave 0.73 percent, while France, with a 0.14 percent rate, trailed such countries as South Africa, Singapore, Turkey and Germany.
Mega-gifts, which Giving USA considers to be donations of $1 billion or more, tend to get the most attention, and that was true last year especially. Obviously the two richest men in the world, Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, have received a ton of attention with their billion dollar donations. Interestingly enough, American giving comes from most of us, not just the super rich. “About 65 percent of households with incomes less than $100,000 give to charity, the report showed.”
Internationally, it seems in vogue to bash us. Clearly there exists a civilization struggle that questions our very way of life. Our standing in the world has recently been diminished. We should all stand up proudly however, for our collective $300 Billion giving to Charitable Causes.
Technorati Tags: Charity, Giving, Searchgive.com
