WASHINGTON, Dec. 19, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The United States now ranks the highest in terms of charity in a massive global survey that put the nation in fifth place in 2010, according to CAFAmerica, a member organization of the United Kingdom based Charities Aid Foundation International Network of Offices, providing charitable financial services to individuals, global corporations, charities, and foundations.
According to those surveyed, two out of three Americans said they donated money to charity (65 percent), more than two out of five volunteered their time (43 percent) and roughly three out of four helped a stranger (73 percent).
The new “World Giving Index (WGI) 2011” report is based on over 150,000 Gallup polling interviews with members of the public in 153 countries. The 2011 report looks at three aspects of giving behavior of individuals in the preceding month, asking if they have donated money to a charity, volunteered time to an organization, or helped a stranger.
The top-ranked U.S. was followed in the survey by Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom rounding out the top five. The four new countries in the top 20 compared to the 2010 WGI report are Thailand, Morocco, Nigeria and Liberia. Of these, Liberia has enjoyed the biggest rise from 39th to 14th place, although Morocco’s increase from 33rd to 12th is equally notable. Other major shifts in the rankings include the rise of the United Kingdom from eighth to fifth, and Thailand’s neighbor Laos moving to tenth place.
As the World Giving Report 2011 states: “The USA had been ranked fifth in 2010, and has risen to first this year. It has shown a steady increase in each of the three measures over the past year, ranging from four percentage points ‘volunteering time’ and to eight percentage points ‘helping a stranger.’ It is this even progress across all three measures that has caused the country to rise to the top of the Index.”
CAFAmerica Interim CEO & Director of Finance David Venne said: “In spite of economic hardships and uncertainty in the future, the American spirit is caring and strong, as these survey findings clearly show. For almost 20 years, CAFAmerica has worked to shine the light on global giving and encourage U.S. donors to support communities and causes beyond our borders. The generosity of the American spirit expands beyond the U.S. with 5 percent of American charitable monies flowing overseas. Our organization is helping U.S. donors connect in a lasting way with communities around the world. The results of the World Giving Index 2011 survey show that China, Russia and India are among those near the bottom of the list. Our experience shows that these countries benefit enormously from U.S. philanthropy.”
Venne added: “It is important that Americans continue to build-up indigenous philanthropy in countries, helping to create a vibrant and sustainable nonprofit sector. And while Americans can take pride in the survey findings, the truth is that there is much more we can all do when it comes to charitable giving in other nations. If donating more is going to be one of your New Year’s resolutions, our message is that you need to do your homework, use the tools provided by CAFAmerica and other organizations, and think about how to give in a way that will achieve a maximum impact.”
Charities Aid Foundation Director of Research Richard Harrison said: “This research confirms that when we look at giving in a rounded way, including the extent to which we volunteer and help strangers, America is the most generous country in the world. America is the only country that ranks in the Top 10 globally on each of these three perspectives and this 1st place ranking should be seen as source of real pride for people across America
