More people donate money to religious organizations in the Mountain region than anywhere else in the nation.

For the first time in its 50-year history, the Giving USA Foundation studies of charitable contributions in the United States broke donations down by region and found the Mountain region has more donators and donates more money to religious organizations than the national average.

The study, released Thursday, came in response to many requests for charitable giving information by region and state. The Mountain region includes Utah and other Rocky Mountain and Southwest states.

While the Mountain region is full of givers, the foundation’s officials emphasize that this does not mean other regions are skimping.

"Americans are not one size fits all,” Giving USA Foundation Chairman Henry Goldman said in a press release. “There are marked differences that must be understood before assigning terms such as 'generous' or 'stingy' to residents of any particular state or region."

According to the Analysis of Regional Variations in Charitable Giving report, the national average for total household giving is about 2.2 percent of disposable income. This average is up from 2 percent prior to 2002. Nationally, people contributed $3,731 per household, a 7.5 percent increase from the last Giving USA study.

Not only does the Mountain region donate more to religious organizations than the national average – the region has a higher percentage of households making charitable contributions. But those contributions make up a lower percent of household income.

Religious contributions include any money, such as tithing and fast offerings, given to religious organizations, said Sharon Bond, a Giving USA Foundation spokeswoman.

However, the Mountain region donates less money to secular charities, the report said. Secular giving is money which goes to charitable organizations, such as the Red Cross, that are not run by churches.

Dani Dunaway, a junior from Orem majoring in linguistics, follows the regional trend in making most of her donations to religious organizations.

Dunaway said she feels fast offerings offer her an opportunity to help people she could not reach on her own.

“I think it’s important to pay a fast offering,” Dunaway said. “We’ve been asked too. Fast offerings go to help those people who are close to you; they actually go to your ward and your stake and the people around you.”

Dunaway hopes to donate more money to secular charities, ones that aid at-risk kids and support education, when she has the financial means to do so. Most of her donations will still go to religious causes such as tithing and fast offerings though, Dunaway said.

“I plan on donating to a religious organization for the rest of my life,” Dunaway said. “Tithing is one of the fundamental principles of the church.”



Copyright Brigham Young University 21 Nov 2005