This Giving Tuesday, here’s how Georgians rank on generosity

Since 2012, the Tuesday after Thanksgiving (and Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday) has been known as Giving Tuesday.

It’s meant to kickoff the season of year-end giving worldwide.

Globally, the United States ranks No. 1 in terms of generosity, according to the National Philanthropic Trust. In 2018, Americans donated more than $427 billion to charity.

But within the United States, some states are more charitable than others.

So where do Georgians rank in terms of generosity? The Peach State came in at No. 13 for most charitable, according to a new report from the personal finance website WalletHub.

Generosity in Georgia, according to the report (1=Most Charitable; 25=Avg.) 

• 1st – percent of donated income 
• 32nd – percent of population who donated time
• 10th – percent of population who donated money
• 8th – percent of population who collect/distribute food
• 31st – volunteer retention rate

The report found that the most charitable states are: Minnesota, Utah, Maryland, Oregon and Ohio. While the least charitable are: Arizona, New Mexico, Mississippi, Louisiana and Nevada.

To determine the most charitable states, the report looked at 19 metrics. Those included volunteer rate/volunteer retention rate, the amount of money people would lend their neighbors in need, share of income donated and public charities per capita.

If you're looking for ways to be charitable this holiday season, WalletHub also has a charity calculator that can help determine which strategy for giving/ volunteering is right for you.