Politics & Government
How Philanthropic is the Peninsula?
New studies take an inside look at how much peninsula residents, and Millbrae residents, give to charity, the numbers may surprise you!
Peninsula residents gave nearly $1 Billion in one year alone, according to new statistics released by the Chronicle of Philanthropy. The Bay Area and the Los Angeles Area are unsurprisingly two major philanthropic hot-spots, leading California to take its place as the philanthropy capital of the country.
In San Mateo County, residents gave a median charitable contribution of $2291, meaning that half of residents gave more than that amount to philanthropic causes. In wealthier towns such as Portola Valley and Atherton, over half of residents gave more than $20,000.
While Bay Area communities perform well when it comes to total contributions, when it comes to giving away a large percentage of income, the numbers fall short.
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Out of 3,115 counties surveyed, San Mateo ranks only #2,473 in percentage of income donated to charity. That means that while residents give a great deal of money, they give relatively little as an overall percentage of their income.
Millbrae ranked slightly higher 2,152 out of the 11,522 towns surveyed for percent of income spent on contributions, beating out South San Francisco.
Find out what's happening in Millbraewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
So, though the Bay Area gives more money as a sum of total contributions, residents in Salt Lake City and Memphis give a far greater percentage of their income to charity, likely making greater sacrifices to do so.
Millbrae residents give on average 3.4% of their discretionary income to charity. San Mateo County residents, as well as Californians on the whole, give on average 4.4%.
The studies provide new commentary on which leading political party is 'more generous.' While ‘blue states’ gave more money as a total sum, residents in Republican states gave a greater percentage of their income.
These numbers have given rise to a constantly recurring debate in the philanthropic world: whether people should be judged on their donations as a total contribution or as a percentage of the money they have.
On the one hand, giving more money total to charity can make a larger impact, yet on the other hand, people who give a higher percentage of their income are likely undertaking a greater sacrifice to do so.
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